Thank You from Family Promise

Happy 5th Day of Christmas!

Below is a video from Family Promise of Gallatin Valley, thanking all their volunteers and supporters for so much good work in 2012.
Christ the King Lutheran Church supports Family Promise financially throughout the year, sends youth to help clean up the Day Center during the Middle School Service Plunge, and also opens our building to house families for a month each summer. THANK YOU to all the volunteer meal hosts and overnight hosts, those who help with set-up, clean-up, laundry and ALL that goes in to helping end homelessness, one family at a time.

The Fourth Day of Christmas

Happy Fourth Day of Christmas!

Today is the Day of the Holy Innocents, Martyrs. The infant martyrs commemorated on this day were the children of Bethlehem, two years old and younger, who were killed by Herod, who worried that his reign was threatened by the birth of a new king. Augustine called these innocents "buds, killed by the frost of persecution the moment they showed themselves." Those linked to Jesus through their youth and innocence encounter the same hostility Jesus encounters later in his ministry. (From Sundays and Seasons Year C 2013, published by Augsburg Fortress)


If you want to read about the Holy Innocents, head to Matthew 2:16-18. 

As much as this story is a "downer" in the midst of Christmas, it serves as a reminder that Jesus was born into the real world, a world full of beauty and love, yes, but also full of danger and sin. Perhaps it can inspire us to offer blessing and care to the "Holy Innocents" of our times and places.

Happy Third Day of Christmas!

St. John the Evangelist and Theologian, Russian Icon, 18th C

Today is the feast day of St. John, the Apostle and Evangelist.

John, the son of Zebedee, was a fisherman and one of the Twelve disciples of Jesus. John, his brother James, and Peter were the three who witnessed the light of the transfiguration. John and James once made known their desire to hold positions of power in the kingdom of God. Jesus' response showed them that service to others was teh sign of God's reign in the world.

Tradition has attributed authorship of the gospel and three epistles bearing his name to the apostle John. John is a saint for Christmas through his proclamation that the Word became flesh and lived among us, that the light of God shines in the darkness, and that we are called to love one another as Christ has loved us.

Information taken from Sundays and Seasons Year C 2013, published by Augsburg Fortress

Merry Christmas!

May the joy of the Christ's birth fill your heart and home this day and always!

Light Looked Down

Light looked down
and saw darkness.
"I WILL GO THERE," SAID LIGHT.

Peace looked down
and saw war.
"I WILL GO THERE," SAID PEACE.

Love looked down
and saw hatred.
"I WILL GO THERE," SAID LOVE.

So he,
the Lord of Light,
the Prince of Peace,
the King of Love,
came down
and crept in
beside us.

- From Cloth for the Cradle, by the Iona Community/Wild Goose Worship Group

2012 Christmas Message from Bishop Mark Hanson

This year's Christmas message from the Presiding Bishop of the ELCA is below.
Merry Christmas!

A different way to observe Christmas

Join us at Christ the King on Thursday, December 20th at 7 p.m.  as we gather together for a worship service that is a different way to observe Christmas.

The service is called "A Blue Christmas." It is a Christmas service designed for people who have a hard time putting on a happy face because of loss of a job, end of a marriage, death of a loved one, or poor health.

The service is filled with prayers, laments, reflective readings from the Bible, and quiet carols of Christmas. It also contains a message of hope, the Good News of God in Jesus Christ that can break through our blues and remind us of God's love.

For more information, contact Pastor Grant at the church office Tuesdays and Thursdays.

The first week of Advent

We are at the midpoint of the first week of Advent, and once again I wish I'd spent a bit more time getting ready to mark this season of getting ready. Somehow I find that the older I get the more I need to prepare to prepare...
We are enjoying the new yule log made at last Sunday's Family Advent Festival each night - light the first candle while we do our evening devotions. Of course the resident two-year-old doesn't quite understand why we aren't lighting all four candles - "More candles!" she demands, as we blow out the match after lighting only one.
Our household is using a devotion from Luther Seminary for Advent this year. You can find it here, as well as on the right-hand side bar on this blog, under "God Pause."
Looking for something different for Advent? Try Silver and Gold Have We None, an Advent devotion from the Lutheran Compass Center in Seattle.
Or check out The Advent Devotional Project, put together by a Montana Synod member.

Tonight we begin our midweek soup and bread suppers (at 6pm) and services of Holden Evening Prayer (7pm). I encourage you to take some time to slow down during this busy season of the year, and join with your brothers and sisters in faith to sing, pray and reflect on Christ's light breaking into our darkness.

(And if  you want to sing with the choir during Advent and Christmas, stick around for choir rehearsal, which will begin right after evening prayer concludes.)

A Prayer for the National Election 2012

A prayer for Responsible citizenship
Lord God, you call your people to honor those in authority. Help us elect trustworthy leaders, participate in wise decisions for our common life, and serve our neighbors in local communities. Bless the leaders of our land, that we may be at peace among ourselves and a blessing to other nations of the earth; through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen
From Evangelical Lutheran Worship p. 77

ELCA Responds to Hurricane Sandy

Rostered leaders of the ELCA received this email and video from our Presiding Bishop earlier this week. We continue to pray for all those affected by the storm and all who help in recovery efforts. Want to help? Donate to Lutheran Disaster Response online or in worship this Sunday.




Dear sisters and brothers in Christ,

God's word of promise is given to all who are facing uncertainty, damage and disruption following Hurricane Sandy and its subsequent storms.

That word of promise is Christ is with you always. With Paul we can say, "If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it." (1 Corinthians 12:26)

As members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), we remain in prayer, responding generously and working tirelessly to rebuild lives, congregations and communities.

We are not doing this work alone. Through ELCA Disaster Response, we are joining with our congregations, affiliates and other partners in our shared commitment to restore communities. As we have shown in past disasters, we stay until the work is done. That is the ELCA's commitment.

Please continue to respond with prayers, generous gifts of time and money, and the commitment to a sustaining presence. Visit ELCA Disaster Response at www.ELCA.org/disaster for updates, worship resources and ways to make contributions online.

Thank you for your prayers and generosity as we respond together and do God's work in Christ's name for the life of the world.

In God's grace,

The Rev. Mark S. Hanson
Presiding Bishop
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

Affirmation of Baptism on Reformation Sunday

Congratulations to the 9th graders who affirmed their baptism on Reformation Sunday! May God bless and keep you always!

The face and hands of Christ

Earlier this week we learned in the church office of a young couple who are working multiple jobs in order to make ends meet. The couple came to us seeking assistance for transportation to a work site.

The young couple is trying in this trying economy to make a go of it. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it does not.
We were able to offer them assistance through the Good Samaritan Fund.
None of this could have happened without your generous weekly offerings.
A portion of the monthly offering (less than one percent) is set aside in our “Good Samaritan Fund.”
Members and friends of Christ the King have benefitted from this fund to help people in need. And total strangers, too! Bags of groceries, tanks of gas, a month’s rent, a late electric bill, and emergency shelter have all been made available through the Good Samaritan Fund.
We forget sometimes that we are the helping hands of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The simple act of hospitality and generosity can show God’s love in a very human form.
Thank you for being the hands and face of Christ in the Gallatin Valley.

This congregation: A Community of Disciples

Christ the King: A Community of Disciples

“We are a Christian community practicing discipleship as we worship, learn, and serve.”

Any effective organization must revisit and recommit to their mission and purpose from time to time. With this in mind, the Pastors and church council have discerned that the true and simple purpose of our church is to be disciples of Christ and to make disciples of Christ. We intentionally and actively move towards fulfilling this purpose by connecting with God, connecting with others, and connecting to the world through opportunities to worship, learn, and serve.

Our simple mission statement of “We are a Christian community practicing discipleship as we worship, learn, and serve” calls us to engage in activities both inside and outside of our church walls. The diagram of three intertwining circles reminds us of the tri-fold mission to worship, learn, and serve, and demonstrates that by engaging in all three we grow as disciples. The cross in the center of the diagram emphasizes that Christ is the center of our very being, the perfect servant, and for whom we strive to be disciples.

With our affirmation of practicing discipleship comes the task of aligning our processes and activities with this mission. The most notable implication of this task will be a commitment to support and encourage citizens in their paths toward, in, and of discipleship.

Moving forward, you may expect to find a more consistent and personal invitation to worship, learn, and serve. It is with this intention towards developing a path toward richer, deeper spiritual life - one of discipleship - that all who walk through the doors of Christ the King will be mindfully and intentionally presented with:

· opportunities for worship, Bible study and theological discussion,

· opportunities to connect with others through small group interaction, and

· opportunities to serve Christ's world both within the church and outside the church.

Walk with Jesus

Every day is a walk with Jesus. We Christians believe life is spent in the presence of our Lord. Therefore, we can talk about every day as a day during which we walk with Jesus. Some days we feel Jesus' presence. Some days we feel quite a distance from Jesus. We boldly proclaim that, regardless of how we feel, Jesus is there. Jesus walks with us every day.


As we who are Christ the King Lutheran Church consider our financial stewardship over the next few weeks, you will be asked to think about your use of money and possessions as a part of your walk with Jesus. This is most appropriate, because when Jesus walked this earth with his disicples, he often talked about money and possessions. If money was a part of Jesus' first walk on this earth, it should be a part of our walk with Jesus today.

We believe that everything we have is a trust from God, given to us to care for and manage. What we do with our money is very much a part of our relationship with our Lord. This will be our focus in the coming weeks.

For three consecutive Sundays we will read a bulletin insert and hear a talk in worship. For three weeks, we will each receive a letter from the congregation. All of these will focus on our walk with Jesus, and how money plays an important part in this walk.

Then, on Sunday, November 11th, each member of Christ the King Lutheran Church will have the opportunity to complete an estimate of giving card. On this card, each of us will indicate our plan for giving for the coming year. This will not only be a plan for giving to Christ the King Lutheran Church, it will also be a plan for how we will walk with Jesus in the coming year.

Cereal drive update

‘If you really fulfill the royal law, according to the scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well.’ James 2:8

As of September 11th we have collected eighty boxes/bags of cereal for the cereal drive benefitting the Gallatin Valley Food Bank.

Our goal is 325 boxes/bags collected. We have reached twenty percent of our goal.

We will keep you posted as to the number of boxes/bags collected. Imagine a tower of cereal, given to the food bank, to be placed in the hands of hungry people here in the Gallatin Valley. Together we can fulfill the Great Commandment to love neighbor as we love ourselves.

2012 Cereal Drive is underway

The 2012 Cereal Drive for the Gallatin Valley Food Bank is underway at Christ the King.

As of today we have collected thirty-eight boxes/bags of cereal. That's more than ten percent of our set goal of 325 boxes/bags to be collected.

Your generous contributions will help feed hungry people in Bozeman and in the Gallatin Valley. The food bank has seen a ten percent increase of people using its resources over last year.

If you have a well stocked pantry at home, as well as a stuffed freezer, consider not purchasing additional items for those food storage areas and consider making a gift to the food bank.

We will keep you posted on our progress of making the set goal of 325 boxes/bags of cereal.

VBS 2012 Photo Slideshow

Here's a slideshow of pictures from VBS 2012 at CtK. It was a great week! (Sorry some are upside down - they're all right in my photo album, but Picasa turned them on their heads!)

VBS & The Pancake Buffet

We're in the middle of a wonderful week of Vacation Bible School. Our theme this year is Splash in God's Word, and each day students are learning great, water-filled, Bible stories. Pictures will be posted at the end of the week...

The end-of-VBS tradition continues with a Pancake Buffet following worship THIS SUNDAY, August 5th. The Learn Ministry Team will provide the pancakes - bring a favorite topping to share! Berries, a variety of syrups, sprinkles, whipped cream, etc., have all proven popular in the past. What's your favorite?

BBQ and Campout

This is becoming an annual tradition you don't want to miss! And, this year the weather promises to be warmer and hopefully not quite as damp as last year!

Members and friends of CtK are invited to bring something to grill and a dish to share. The Family & Youth Team will provide fixin's for s'mores. There will be a fire pit for marshmallow roasting and to tell stories around.

Bring your lawn chair, tent, sleeping bag and overnight gear. In the morning there will be cereal for breakfast, and participants will be up in time to join in Family/Intergenerational Sunday School at 9am and worship at 10am.

See you on the lawn!

Biblical studies tool

A resource I have been using to help me prepare for the preaching series on Ephesians this summer is Luther Seminary’s Enter the Bible website. It is chock full of information on each book of the Bible. Each book is summarized by a seminary professor and includes such things as main themes, an outline, theological issues, and historical data.


You can find the website at http://www.enterthebible.org/



Happy learning!

Links!

Check out the new CtK Youth blog! The crew at the ELCA Youth Gathering in New Orleans this week will be posting each day. This is a great way to keep up with them!

Have you "liked" CtK on facebook yet? Even if you don't have a facebook account, you can still check out the CtK facebook page, which has links and photos (including from the 2012 Middle School Service Plunge!). It's at www.facebook.com/ctkbozeman.

CtK Birthday Party, Potluck & Spring Clean-Up!

This post should have been published on Wednesday. Due to a glich it's finally getting posted today, and without the groovy picture...

This Sunday, June 10th, CtK will celebrate the anniversary of the building with gifts, a potluck and spring clean-up of the building and grounds!

The congregational "wish-list" includes: First Class Forever Stamps, Postcard Stamps, Copy Paper, white(22# at least) in following sizes: Letter (8.5x11), Legal (8.5x14), Ledger (11x17), Copy Paper, Buff (11x17), Garbage bags (drawstring, kitchen size), Garbage bags (large, leaf size), Disinfecting wipes (any brand), Paper towels (rolls/any brand), Kleenex (boxed/any brand), Toilet Paper (Kirkland brand), Coffee (Regular) (NOTE: Not Kirkland brand, it is too fine), Coffee (Decaf, any brand). And if you want to go BIG - a flat screen TV is on the wishlist, too!

Bring gifts with you on Sunday and place them in the social hall. Stay after worship for a potluck bbq (burgers and hot dogs will be provided). Bring a side dish or dessert to share! And stick around for spring clean-up, too. There's a varied task list, including jobs like weeding in the flower beds, dusting blinds, cleaning and organizing the pantry and trimming shrubs. Something for everyone!

Come join the celebration and fun, and help with the work of taking care of the building we share!

Something good came out of Billings...

Last week I attended the Montana Synod Assembly in Billings. One of our guest speakers, who is leading the churchwide effort to eliminate malaria, shared a Franciscan blessing.
Indeed, something good came out of Billings. 


               Four-Fold Franciscan Blessing

 May God bless you with a restless discomfort about easy answers, half-truths and superficial relationships, so that you may seek truth boldly and love deep within your heart.

 May God bless you with holy anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that you may tirelessly work for justice, freedom, and peace among all people.

May God bless you with the gift of tears to shed with those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, or the loss of all that they cherish, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and transform their pain into joy.


May God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you really can make a difference in this world, so that you are able, with God's grace, to do what others claim cannot be done.

The Day of Pentecost

This Sunday is the Day of Pentecost. To get ready, read Acts 2 and find your flame-colored attire (the liturgical color of the festival is red).

Holy Spirit, Lord divine,
Come, from heights of heav'n and shine,
Come with blessed radiance bright!
Come, O Father of the poor,
Come, whose treasured gifts endure,
Come, our heart's unfailing light!

Excerpt from Sequence, Twelfth Century, translated by Peter Scagnelli.

ELCA Malaria Campaign Update

From Jessica Nipp, ELCA Malaria Campaign Coordinator:


Dear friends,


You did it! Your overwhelming generosity to the ELCA Malaria Campaign in the week after World Malaria Day exceeded our hopes and our expectations. Together, you gave over $203,000 -- enough to launch the work of the ELCA Malaria Campaign in Liberia!

The Rev. D. Jensen Seyenkulo, newly elected Bishop of the Lutheran Church in Liberia, expresses his gratitude for your gifts:

In Liberia, there is no city or village that is safe from the malaria parasite. The whole country is at risk. So the anti-malaria work of the Lutheran Church in Liberia is of utmost importance. Through your gifts to the ELCA Malaria Campaign, you have made that anti-malaria work possible.

I bring a message from your Lutheran brothers and sisters in Liberia: thank you! Thank you for walking with us as we faced civil war, disease, displacement and unemployment. Thank you for walking with us as partners in the gospel we share. And thank you for making possible the work that our church is doing to prevent, treat and educate about malaria in Liberia.

We have been working hard to get ready for these malaria programs. Our experts have studied trends and treatments of malaria. We've identified the needs in our communities and how the church, through our health care ministries, can fill them. We're ready to mobilize -- all we needed was the funding to get started. Thanks to you, our programming work can now begin. As we walk hand in hand, God will work through us to save lives.

Because of your generous gifts, Lutherans in Liberia will continue their long legacy of meeting the health care needs in their communities. We are a church that rolls up our sleeves and gets to work. You have brought us all one step closer to our goal of making malaria history. Thank you!


In Christ,

Jessica Nipp
Coordinator, ELCA Malaria Campaign

P.S. Our work in Liberia is just one example of the amazing things our church can accomplish together through the ELCA Malaria Campaign, and our work has just begun. We have a goal of raising $15 million by 2015 to support the work of our partners and companions in 12 countries in Africa. Your gifts of any size, at any time, make a difference.

Calling All Visual Artists

Word of Life Mural by Millard Sheets, 1907-1989.
From the Art in the Christian Tradition Collection at Vanderbilt.

Here at CtK we tend to do a pretty good job of celebrating the musical gifts of members of the congregation. Last Sunday we enjoyed an anthem by the adult choir, and a new mini wind ensemble played along with a couple of the hymns. This coming Sunday, the Sunday School choir will sing, and worship will be lead by a group with contemporary instrumentation.
That said, there are lots of folks with gifts in the VISUAL arts as well, and this summer, we'd like to celebrate and appreciate those gifts through a series of original bulletin covers. Anything that can be scanned, or have a a photo taken of it, will work. So, if you are a painter, sculptor, photographer, calligrapher, fiber artist, mixed media artist, drawer, scrapbooker, etc., and you are interested in participating in this series, please let Pastor Lindean know!
The goal is to have an original cover every Sunday June-August, inspired by the readings from the Revised Common Lectionary for the day. It could be the Old Testament reading, the Psalm, Epistle or Gospel lesson that inspires you. We hope each artist will also write a brief statement about their work and the inspiration behind it. Questions? Talk to Pastor Lindean.
Not a visual artist? Encourage someone who is, enjoy the growing "gallery" in the narthex and social hall, and be sure to thank those who do participate in this series.

A Prayer for the 6th Sunday of Easter - by David Lose

This post comes from ...In the Meantime, a blog by Luther Seminary professor David Lose.

Dear God,

You have called us to love, which sounds easy but is often hard.

You have called us to obedience, which sounds hard but is sometimes easy.

You have called us to obedient love, which sounds like an oxymoron, but really isn’t.

You have called us to loving obedience, which sounds crazy but leads to peace.

So help us, dear God, to love, and help us to obey.

Help us, that is, to look to the needs of others and respond with the compassion we see in Jesus.

Help us to ask whether what we are called to do, choose to do, or want to do is motivated from love.

If it is, give us the power to do it and keep at bay those forces that would hinder us from obeying your command to love one another.

If it is not, prevent us.

It’s that simple, and that difficult. Help us, dear God.

Amen.

A new way to address hunger

On Sunday, May 6th a group of volunteers from Christ the King served dinner to sixty-one people at Bozeman Community Café, a cooperative hunger program run by Gallatin Valley Food Bank and area churches. The café is located in the old Frontier Pies Restaurant on North 7th in Bozeman. Customers are greeted at the door by a host. Once seated they are greeted by a server, who takes their beverage order and informs them of the meal choices available that evening. On Sunday, May 6th you could choose from beef stew, chicken pasta primavera, and hot dog with baked beans. Once the order was taken by the server, the “scoopers” promptly plated the meal requested. As one customer said, “Hey, this is faster than fast food!” Christ the King has been active in collecting canned and non perishable food items for the food bank. Every first Sunday of the month we collect a special offering to benefit the ELCA World Hunger Appeal and the Gallatin Valley Food Bank. Community Cafe is a new opportunity to help us address hunger here in the Gallatin Valley. It puts a face on hunger. I invite you to visit the Community Cafe any evening of the week from 5 p.m.-7 p.m. to experience the ministry that is happening in our midst. Hungery people are being fed. Caring Christians and members of the community are responding to the overwhelming need in our area with gifts of time, talent, and treasure. Christ the King is scheduled to serve at Bozeman Community Café on Sunday, June 3rd from 4:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m. If you are interested in volunteering, please see Pastor Grant

Another Great Day to Pray

Tomorrow, the first Thursday in May, is the National Day of Prayer in the United States. (It's been the first Thursday in May since it was signed into law by President Truman in 1952).

In many ways, it's just another great day to pray, and perhaps to be more intentional about praying for our government, leadership, democracy, etc. In my prayer  life, I try to remember to pray "your will be done, O Lord," and not assume I always know exactly what that is - if I ever do. As a citizen of the most powerful nation on the planet, I do well to remember that Christian faith and the strength of empire don't always mix so well (if ever). That said, I am incredibly thankful for the freedoms I enjoy and the standard of living I too often take for granted.

Looking for some resources to enrich your prayer life?

The Lutheran Church of Honolulu has a great online resource for praying the daily offices at Daily Prayer. You can learn more about the ancient practice of praying throughout the day.

The ELCA Prayer Center has several resources as well, including a prayer for each day and a prayer for healing video.

Did you know you can submit a prayer request to the CtK office (received by both pastors and the office manager) on the CtK website? Just go to the online prayer request form.

May God bless us as we turn to him in prayer - lifting up our longings and concerns, being still in God's presence, and trusting that God hears all our prayers, as he has promised to do.

Proposed social statement on Criminal Justice to be reviewed at adult forums in May

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America addresses social concerns as a witness to God’s just and loving purpose for all of creation. It does this by equipping and nurturing members for their calling in the world, encouraging learning and moral deliberation around social concerns, developing and enacting social teaching in the form of social statements, and interpreting and applying social policy. During the month of May in adult forum, we will be looking at a proposed social statement on Criminal Justice. Adult forum meets Sunday mornings at 9 a.m. in the social hall. The task force charged with the mission of preparing this social statement for vote at the ELCA church wide assembly has asked individuals and congregations to provide feedback. You are encouraged to attend adult forum or to read the document on your own, in order to provide thoughtful and prayerful feedback, as guided by the Holy Spirit. You can download the document using this link www.elca.org/What-We-Believe/Social-Statements-in-Process/Criminal-Justice.aspx If you cannot download the document, please contact Pastor Grant at the church office and one will be provided for you.

Malaria in Senegal

Annē (Hoblitt) Linn and her husband, Patrick, are serving as Peace Corps volunteers in Senegal. We pray for them every week during the prayers of intercession.
Annē has a great blog going, and this post from mid-April, "Every Child Deserves a Fifth Birthday" is all about malaria in Senegal and the work, and challenges, of international health agencies there.
If you want to read her latest post, or subscribe, check out the main page of her blog, Line over the E.

During worship yesterday, a bell was tolled every 45 seconds, to remind us that every 45 seconds a child in Africa dies from malaria (many thanks to Kristin H. for bell-duty!). I know it was a little distracting, but I think that's not necessarily a bad thing. Perhaps we should be more distracted than we are by deaths from malaria, human trafficking and the poverty that rages across so much of the world. One of the most powerful prayers I've heard in a long time: May my heart be broken by the things that break the heart of God.

Malaria Sunday

Tomorrow CtK will join other ELCA congregations in commemorating Malaria Sunday. Here's a video to introduce the campaign:

Sunday School students from preschool through middle school will learn more about the campaign and efforts to fight malaria around the world, especially in Africa. The goal of this week's offering, churchwide, is to collect at least $200,000 to begin the campaign's work in Liberia.

Below is a letter from the coordinator of the ELCA Malaria Campaign:

April 25, 2012
Dear member of the ELCA,
“Where is the ELCA in our fight against malaria?”
This is the question a Liberian health official asked my colleague during his recent trip to West Africa. “We have heard about the ELCA Malaria Campaign. We need your help, and we need it now.”
Malaria is a leading cause of death in Africa, claiming the life of a child every 45 seconds. In Liberia, malaria accounts for 30 percent of all deaths in hospitals.
Since the launch of the ELCA Malaria Campaign last year, Lutheran churches in Angola, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe have ramped up their efforts to control this disease – distributing mosquito nets and medicine as well as educating communities on prevention. However, we don’t yet have the funds to begin this work in Liberia. Will you help?
Our sisters and brothers in Liberia are ready. They have active congregations that can be mobilized to help prevent malaria in their communities. They have two well-respected Lutheran hospitals, community-based health care programs and development and education ministries that serve tens of thousands of people. They know what it takes to prevent and treat malaria. But they need your partnership. The time is now.
Today is World Malaria Day, and we as the ELCA can join the global community in doing our part. We can bring hope to our sisters and brothers in Liberia.
During this week (April 25-May 1), we need to raise $200,000 – enough to expand our anti-malaria work to Liberia this year. Will you help with your gift today?
Let’s make this dream a reality. There are three ways to give.

1. Donate online by visiting http://www.elca.org/MalariaDay anytime before the 11:59 p.m. CST deadline on Tuesday, May 1.
2. Donate over the phone by calling 800-638-3522 during business hours now through Tuesday, May 1, at 5:00 p.m. CST. Operators are standing by.
3. Donate through the mail by sending a check to the ELCA Malaria Campaign, P.O. Box 71764, Chicago, Illinois, 60694-1764. Please mail your checks by May 4, 2012, and be sure to write "World Malaria Day" in the memo line of your check. (Congregational offerings on Sunday, April 29, are encouraged and welcomed! Please visit our website for service ideas and resources.)

We are a church that believes God is calling us into the world – together. Thank you for your prayers, your partnership and your generous gifts to help our neighbors in need.

In Christ's service, Jessica Nipp Coordinator, ELCA Malaria Campaign

Rummage Sale

CtK's annual Rummage Sale is TOMORROW, April 28th, 8am-noon. Members and friends of the congregation have donated TONS of great stuff, and all proceeds will support the Family & Youth Ministry of the congregation. Come get some bargains - and help spread the word!

I wanted to say more on Sunday during the sermon...

Friends in Christ,

I wanted to say more last Sunday during the sermon, but I ran out of time.

I have posted here a quote from Father Robert Capon, an Episcopal priest who has written a number of excellent commentaries on the Four Gospels. I have read many of his books and use his commentaries (where appropiate) when I prepare to preach.

I was directed to this quote from Capon by Rev. Brian Stoffregen, who has written many fine commentaries on the Four Gospels as well. You can find Stoffregen's commentaries at www.crossmarks.com.

I love the quote from Capon. He is rock solid as a theologian, and he doesn't mind telling the church to stay on message, that is, preach the Good News of God in Jesus Christ through the forgiveness of sins.

In Easter joy, Pastor Grant


Here is a quote from Robert Capon (Hunting the Divine Fox: An Introduction to the Language of Theology, [pp. 132-3] republished in The Romance of the Word: One Man's Love Affair with Theology [p. 345])to help us understand the nature of forgiveness and being the church.
... The church is not in the morals business. The world is in the morals business, quite rightfully; and it has done a fine job of it, all things considered. The history of the world's moral codes is a monument to the labors of many philosophers, and it is a monument of striking unity and beauty. As C.S. Lewis said, anyone who thinks the moral codes of mankind are all different should be locked up in a library and be made to read three days' worth of them. He would be bored silly by the sheer sameness.
What the world cannot get right, however, is the forgiveness business – and that, of course, is the church's real job. She is in the world to deal with the Sin which the world can't turn off or escape from. She is not in the business of telling the world what's right and wrong so that it can do good and avoid evil. She is in the business of offering, to a world which knows all about that tiresome subject, forgiveness for its chronic unwillingness to take its own advice. But the minute she even hints that morals, and not forgiveness, is the name of her game, she instantly corrupts the Gospel and runs headlong into blatant nonsense.
The church becomes, not Ms. Forgiven Sinner, but Ms. Right. Christianity becomes the good guys in here versus the bad guys out there. Which, of course, is pure tripe. The church is nothing but the world under the sign of baptism. ...

We Easter people have been sent to forgive sins.

Thursday Thought

A Christian is a perfectly free lord of all, subject to none.
A Christian is a perfectly dutiful servant of all, subject to all.

~ Martin Luther

Easter Greeting from Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

Christ is risen! Imagine the power in those words of promise.

When the disciples first heard Jesus speak of his death and resurrection, "they kept the matter to themselves" (Mark 9:10). But the news is too good to keep to ourselves. The life of Jesus Christ has been unleashed into the world.

Because Christ is risen, you can embrace life's complexities and uncertainties with a living, daring confidence in God's grace. The risen Christ goes ahead of you, meeting you in the most surprising faces and unexpected places. Christ's resurrection puts us right where God wants us to be -- in the thick of life.

Because Christ is risen, you have a word of hope. To those weary from mourning loss and fearing death, the assurance is given that nothing in all creation will separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.

The life of Jesus, God's own life, has burst into the world, restoring community. At the barriers we erect to divide us, the risen Christ meets us, turning those walls into tables of reconciliation. To those who live in fear and feel unworthy, the promise is given. "You are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God" (Ephesians 2:19).

Every morning you awaken with the mark of Jesus' death on your forehead and the promise of Christ's resurrection on your lips.

Christ is risen! Alleluia!

In God's grace,

The Rev. Mark S. Hanson
Presiding Bishop
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

What's your favorite?

What is your favorite thing about Easter morning?

Is it worship - resurrection proclaimed, breaking out the alleluias, inspiring music?

Is it Easter eggs and other tasty treats? (do you eat the ears of a chocolate bunny first or save them for last?)

Is it the end of your Lenten fast - finally drinking coffee, eating sweets, or partaking again in something else you "gave up" for Lent?
Is it Easter bonnets - your own or someone else's?

Leave a comment below and share YOUR favorite thing about Easter morning.

Good Friday

Today he who hung the earth upon the waters is hung upon the Cross

He who is King of the angels is arrayed in a crown of thorns.

He who wraps the heaven in clouds is wrapped in the purple of mockery.

He who in Jordan set Adam free receives blows upon his face.

The Bridegroom of the Church is transfixed with nails.

The Son of the Virgin is pierced with a spear.

We venerate thy Passion, O Christ.

Show us also thy glorious Resurrection.

Hymn for Good Friday, Orthodox

Maundy Thursday Thought

It's always easier to follow Jesus in our heads than it is to follow him with our feet on the Via Dolorosa (way of suffering).
- Rev. Robert H. Herhold

Holy Week & Easter Services

Family Promise Diaper Drive

From April 1st-7th, Leslie's Hallmark will be collecting diapers for Family Promise families at their Gallatin Vally Mall location and their store next to Albertson's. Bring in a package of diapers and receive a free bag of Bequet Caramels and 20% off your purchase at Leslie's Hallmark.
Families currently in Family Promise of Gallatin Valley are in need of size 6 diapers and size 2 pull-ups, though diapers of any size will be most appreciated!

Thursday Thought

The people who hanged Christ never, to do them justice, accused him of being a bore - on the contrary; they thought him too dynamic to be safe. It has been left for later generations to muffle up that shattering personality and surround him with an atmosphere of tedium. We have very efficiently pared the claws of the Lion of Judah, certified him "meek and mild," and recommended him as a fitting household pet for pale curates and pious old ladies. To those who knew him, however, he in no way suggested a milk-and-water person; they objected to him as a dangerous firebrand. True, he was tender to the unfortunate, patient with honest inquirers, and humble before heaven; but he insulted respectable clergymen by calling them hypocrites; he referred to King Herod as "that fox"; he went to parties in disreputable company, and was looked upon as a "gluttonous man and a wine-bibber, a friend of publicans and sinners"; he assaulted indignant tradesmen and threw them and their belongings out of the Temple; he drove a coach-and-horses through a number of sacrosanct and hoary regulations; he cured diseases by any means that came handy, with a shocking casualness in the matter of other people's pigs and property; he showed no proper deference for wealth or social position; when confronted with neat dialectical traps, he displayed a paradoxical humor that affronted serious-minded people, and he retorted by asking disagreeably searching questions that could not be answered by rule of thumb. He was emphatically not a dull man in his human lifetime, and if he was God, there can be nothing dull about God either. But he had "a daily beauty in his life that made us ugly," and officialdom felt that the established order of things would be more secure without him. So they did away with God in the name of peace and quietness.

~ Dorothy Sayers, A Matter of Eternity, Selections from the Writings of Dorothy L. Sayers

The Tale of The Three Trees

The children and youth of CtK have been hard at work during this season of Lent, rehearsing an adaptation of The Tale of the Three Trees.
Their final rehearsal will be this Saturday, March 31st, from 10-11am.
They will perform the musical on Sunday, April 1st, at 9:30am. If you enjoyed their fabulous Christmas program, you're going to love this! Invite your friends and family to join you for the musical, and then to stay for worship. This week is Palm/Passion Sunday. Worshipers will gather in the social hall for the procession with palms, and then hear the Passion story from the Gospel according to Mark. There will be hymns and other great music as well.
See you in worship as we begin Holy Week!

(Looking for an opportunity to pray and reflect as we begin Holy Week? The Gallatin Valley Interfaith Association is offering a Labyrinth Walk, hosted at CtK, on Saturday, March 31st, from 11am-4pm. Come and check it out!)

That Movie I Mentioned

Last weekend I mentioned a song that's been stuck in my head on more than one occasion. Here's the YouTube video:

6th Annual Chili Cook-Off and 3rd Annual Wii Bowling Tournament THIS Saturday

Invite your friends and family for this great annual event! There will be mac&cheese for the non-chili-eaters, and TONS OF FUN for everyone!

Thursday Thought

The language that God hears best is the silent language of love.
~ John of the Cross, sixteenth century

Thursday Thought

"Dependence on God may be what is lacking in a society where consumerism and accumulation have become the root diseases of a world in which everything is not enough and nothing satisfies."


- Joan Chittister, from The Rule of Benedict: Insights for the Ages

Thursday Thought

If the Church valued reconciliation over judgement, it would have to surrender its fondness for black-and-white, either-or thinking. Our tendency of reducing the most difficult matters to the simplest and starkest of terms cripples our ability to understand and appreciate the moral complexity inherent in many issues. Worse, it predisposes us toward language of hostility when sympathy and understanding are most needed.
 ~ Philip Gulley

A short explanation of the day and the church season upon us

Looking for a quick way to explain Ash Wednesday to your friends? Look no further than Busted Halo’s® two-minute video that describes the day which begins the season of Lent, and why Catholics and many other Christians(like us Lutherans) receive ashes on their foreheads.

Lent begins with a solemn call to fasting and repentance as we begin our journey to the baptismal waters of Easter. Now is the acceptable time to return to the Lord. During Lent we as a community of faith will reflect the meaning of our baptism into Christ’s death and resurrection. On Ash Wednesday, we receive ashes traced on our foreheads, to remind us that in our baptism, we were marked with the sign of the cross forever. The ashes suggest our human mortality and frailty. What seems like an ending is really an invitation to make each day a new beginning, in which we are washed in God’s mercy and forgiveness. With the cross on our brow, we long for the spiritual renewal that flows from the springtime Easter feast to come.

Let us pray,
Gracious God, out of your love and mercy you breathed into dust the breath of life, creating us to serve you and our neighbors. Call forth our prayers and acts of kindness, and strengthen us to face our mortality with confidence in the mercy of your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen!

You are invited

Our Lenten journey begins tomorrow evening, starting with a soup supper to be held in the social hall at 6 p.m. At 7 p.m. we will gather in the worship space for Ash Wednesday.

Come with an open heart and an open mind, as we are reminded of our common humanity and mortality through the Imposition of Ashes. Hear how we are called to be a community of faith, the body of Christ, through proclamation of the Word and the breaking of the bread.

I’ll see you at supper and in worship.

In Christ, Pastor Grant

Blessing the memory of Martin Luther

Martin Luther died this day in 1546.

I offer up this prayer that he wrote, as a testimony to the man who reformed the Christian church of his day, in order that the Good News of God in Jesus Christ is heard loud and clear.

Dear God and Father, we thank you for your infinite goodness and love to us. You do continually keep us in your word, in faith and in prayer. By this we know how to walk before you in humility and in fear. By this we are not proud of our own wisdom, righteousness, skill, and strength, but glory alone in your power. You are strong when we are weak, and through our own weakness you win daily and gain the victory. We pray for you to so nurture us that we may be to you as beautiful pleasure gardens so that many people may enjoy our fruits and be attracted through us to all godliness. Write into our hearts, by your Holy Spirit, whatever is abundantly found in Scripture. Let us constantly keep in mind, and permit it to become far more precious to us than our own life and all else that we cherish on earth. Help us to live and act accordingly. To you be praise and thanks in eternity. Amen.

Love letters from God

On Valentine’s Day let pause and give thanks to God for the love God gives to a broken world.

John 3:16
‘For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.
Romans 8:35-39
Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written,
‘For your sake we are being killed all day long;
we are accounted as sheep to be slaughtered.’
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
1 John 4:7-8
God Is Love
Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love.

Souper Bowl of Caring soup collection update

We had additional cans of soup come in AFTER weekend worship. The additional cans brings our collected soup can total to 615-almost double our goal. Praise God! And thank you for your generosity.

Results from the Souper Bowl of Caring

Members and friends of Christ the King collected 593 cans of soup for the Souper Bowl of Caring. Thank You!

Hungry families and individuals in the Greater Gallatin Valley area will benefit from such generosity.

Presentation of our Lord

Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying,
‘Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace,
according to your word;
for my eyes have seen your salvation,
which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
a light for revelation to the Gentiles
and for glory to your people Israel.’
Luke 2:28-32

Today we celebrate the Presentation of our Lord, when Mary and Joseph traveled to Jerusalem to dedicate Jesus at the Temple forty days after his birth in Bethlehem.
It is there they were met by Simeon, who was promised by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death until he had seen the Lord’s Christ.
Simeon’s words, from Luke 2:28-32, have been passed down throughout the ages as the Nunc Dimittis, from the Latin, referring to the words “Lord, now you are dismissing your servant in peace.”
May our eyes, like Simeon’s, see the Lord’s salvation that has been prepared in the presence of all peoples.

Souper Bowl of Caring

CtK youth and adults are gearing up for the Souper Bowl of Caring Famine and Lock-In this weekend. Students will go without food for close to 30 hours, to be reminded of what it's like to be hungry, and to stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters who go without food on a regular basis.
They will work on some service projects, including assembling school kits for Lutheran World Relief, creating items for a couple of upcoming auctions, and helping lead worship this weekend on Saturday and Sunday.
EVERYONE is invited to help them break their fast, at a potluck meal at 6:30pm this Saturday, February 4th. Bring a dish to share and ask to hear the stories of the day. If you want, join in the fast from home, and donate all the money you would have spent on food for the day to the Souper Bowl of Caring offering for the Gallatin Valley Food Bank this weekend.
If you're able, please also bring a can of soup or two to add to the growing offering here at CtK. There are over 250 cans of soup piled high so far - with your help it shouldn't be too hard to reach our goal of 312 cans and $312!!

Annual Meeting of the Congregation

CtK's Annual Meeting is THIS SUNDAY, January 29th. It'll start roughly at noon, after a light lunch after worship. All members and friends of the congregation are encouraged to attend - new Church Council members will be elected, as will voting members for the Synod Assembly in June, representatives to Christikon, the Crazy Mountains Cluster, etc.
The current Council will also describe some of their work over the last year, and ministry teams and committees will report some highlights, too. It's a great time to sit down and survey the ministry that happens here and to thank God for all the blessings that flow to and through this the community of faith.
Come and check it out!

Soup's On!

We're into the last couple weeks of the congregation's annual Soup Drive for the Gallatin Valley Food Bank. If you're able, bring a can of soup (or several) with you to worship this weekend, and add them to the growing stack on the table in the narthex (lobby).
THANKS!

And... interested in a great time Friday, February 3rd - Saturday, February 4th? Let me know if you'd like to help out during the annual CtK Youth 30 Hour Famine/Souper Bowl of Caring lock-in and day of service and learning! Send me an email at ctkprlindean at qwestoffice dot net  - it's gonna be great!

Sledding Fun 4 Everyone!

The third annual sledding party is THIS weekend, Saturday, January 21st, beginning at 4:30pm, and with the arrival of winter, promises to be a good time for EVERYONE (this is a fabulous intergenerational event!)! Just meet at the 100 Acre Park (the big hill near the Dinosaur Park).
Bring your sled, saucer or inner tube, wear lots of warm gear, and bring snacks to share, too, if  you want. Some snacks, hot cocoa and water will be provided.
Parents: Please plan to stick around and sled with/supervise your kids!
Questions? Contact the church office: 587-4131.

Women's Retreat

Getting ready to head home Sunday afternoon

Nine women headed down to Big Sky last weekend for a women's retreat.
The group ate together, prayed together, laughed, cried, learned, read, sang, listened...
Some skied, some knitted, some went for a walk, some wrote in journals...

Overall, it was a wonderful time to grow in faith and friendship together as sisters in Christ. It was also a meaningful and reflective way to spend the first full weekend of the new year, as routines and rhythms interrupted by the holidays gear up again.

Not able to participate this year? The consensus seems to be this should become an annual event - so, next time!!



Saturday evening in Big Sky



The Epiphany of Our Lord - The wise man's journey

The wise man's journey

There will be no camels;
we are going on horseback,
at least for some of the way.

And we won't arrive there
a few hours after everyone else.
It will be weeks, perhaps -
or months.

We are not in a hurry.
That is not the way we work;
we are not Europeans.

We will discuss the phenomenon - the star -
and if it does not go away,
and if we still feel curious,
we will travel.

We will look in the wrong place.
Yes, I admit that,
because wise men, potentates, intellectuals -
call us what you will -
are not infallible.

We expect a new power
to emerge from the side of the old one.
We expect the destination we seek
to resemble what our common sense deduces.

We will be upset, angry even,
to find that Herod is ignorant
and that his residence is not the birthplace.

We will find it hard
and intellectually demeaning
to bow the knee to the son of refugees.

And all this...
all this upset will be compounded
when it comes to journeying back
and we discover
we have to go home by an alternate route.

That is the trouble with God.
He does not let you leave as you came.
He sends you back,
stripped of your presumptions,
making for home by an alternate route.

From Cloth for the Cradle: Worship resources and readings for Advent, Christmas & Epiphany, by the Iona Community- Wild Goose Worship Group

The Twelfth Day of Christmas: House Blessing Preparation

Merry Christmas!
I hope the season has been filled with joy, love and wonder at the Incarnation for you and your family!

Tomorrow is Epiphany, and it's customary in many homes (especially in Western Europe) to mark the lintel above the front door with symbols of blessing. You can do it, too!

Mark the front door (or somewhere on the door frame) with these symbols: the date, abbreviation of the phrase Christus Mansionem Benedicat ("Christ bless this home" - which are also the initials of traditional names for the Magi - Casper, Melchior and Balthasar), and four crosses (representing the four seasons).

Order the symbols in the following way: 20 + C + M + B + 12

In the new year, this marking serves as a blessing over the entire household. Be as artistic and creative as you want! Get a jump start on an art project tonight and post it tomorrow night - use markers or do a collage on a piece of cardboard! Alternatively, the marking may be made with chalk, for those who like to keep things simple.

And don't forget the prayer of blessing!
One person, or the whole household together, prays:

Be our shelter, Lord, when we are at home, our companion when we are away, and our welcome guest when we return. And at last receive us into the dwelling place you have prepared for us in your father's house, where you live forever and ever. Amen

Chalking the Door
(from http://mugsmettlesandmeanderings.blogspot.com/2011/01/traditional-epiphany-house-blessing.html)

The Eleventh Day of Christmas: The Magi Are Getting Closer!

The two sets of wise men at our house are ready to make their grand entrance into the creche scenes that have been awaiting their arrival. Our tradition is to let them move slowly across the living room from Christmas Day until Epiphany.
We Three Kings is one of the songs that we play this time of the season of Christmas. (This version is good for some 11th day of Christmas dancing with toddlers!)

The Ninth and Tenth Days of Christmas: Beginning Intentionally

A couple of years ago someone introduced me to The Abbey of the Arts. I'm still subscribed to an occasional email list, and so found this article with suggestions for observing the 12 Days of Christmas. I know, it's a little on the late side, but there's no reason one couldn't use these practices now - it's still the beginning of the year, and still winter (sort of!?!).
If you do engage these, please let me know - I'd love to hear about your experience. And should you decide to read widely and deeply about/from one of our ancestors in the faith, I'd especially like to pick your brain.

The Eighth Day of Christmas: Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! I hope 2012 is off to a wonderful start for you!

The 1st of January is the day each year we celebrate the Name of Jesus. This celebration lands on the 8th day of Christmas, since eight days after his birth Jesus was circumcised according to Jewish law and given his name - the name the angel announced before he was even conceived.

As Christians we bear Christ's name in and to the world. You are a child of God! Not a bad thing to remember, and give thanks for, as we begin a new year...