 “They were very grateful for the gifts, and there were moments of happy tears!”
Another family was so surprised that they expressed their thankfulness over and over for all the people who made Christmas be so special this year! Merry Christmas and thank you, people, and friends of Christ the King! Thank you for your support and generosity to make Christmas special for four families – 13 children, 5 parents by contributing to the Holiday Giving Tree at CtK. You have provided clothing, food, household items, toys, books, gas cards and gift cards to families who don’t have that ability to do so. You have no doubt heard the phrase “Blessed to be a blessing.” Where does it come from? There are countless inferences throughout the Bible, but two places in scripture we may find this are Genesis 12:2 and Matthew 5:16. In Genesis we find ‘blessed to be a blessing’ in the Call of Abraham, who hadn’t had his name changed yet. God said to Abram, “I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.” We also hear the words “blessed to be a blessing,” in an inferred way, during a baptism when we light and present the baptismal candle to the baptismal candidate, parents, and sponsors. We say these words from Matthew 5:16 “Let your light so shine before others, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” RC Sproul an American Reformed theologian and ordained pastor in the Presbyterian Church in America once said, “One of the worst things we can do it to waste the gifts that God has given to us.” Our time, our resources, and our heart is to be diverted away from our own comforts and pleasures toward expanding God’s kingdom and glory. Thank you for sharing your gifts and resources to others in our community. You have seized the opportunity to allow God’s love to come to life for these four families! I look forward to many more opportunities in 2021 to see how CtK is blessed to be a blessing to our community! Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year from our newborn Savior – Jesus Christ, Pastor Nate
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Wowza! It had been a couple months since we last did a State of the Church webinar! Last week Thursday though, we gathered together online to share all the ways that God's love has been coming to life at Christ the King since we did our last webinar. Check out the full webinar below, and if you want the abridged version, check out these specific spots:
On another topic: We are looking forward to seeing you this Christmas Eve! Be sure to check out our website, Facebook page, and our eNews to get all the important details you'll want to know! Peace be the journey, Pastor Dara  The divide between secular and sacred in our western culture has a long history that most likely started with the Greeks. I mean a long time ago like when Jesus was on the earth. Before that the Hebrew people had a more integrated way of understanding all of life having its beginnings from God or all of creation being bathed in the sacred. For me, there is tension between the two schools of thought in my everyday perspective. Sometimes I find myself grounded in the dualism of sacred vs secular and other days I can see God’s handy work all around me.
Repurposing, recycling, reclaiming, salvaging, restoring are all important concepts to life and the things we have. To see a person in a new light or worn-out objects as valuable for a new use are important. Thankfully, God does not get tired of us, because, every day, we are made to be a new creation. We are given new life and we are repurposed. I give thanks for the creative mind and resourceful nature of people here at CtK. Jane Wyngaard is one of those people who observed the renovation of the church in 2018 before she retired as our Housekeeper in 2020. She used some of the displaced chairs that were in the back of the church to create a new lounge area for fellowship near the new coffee bar. She also saw that we replaced some wood doors. She could imagine the beauty of God’s created trees, made into doors, could be repurposed and made into coffee tables. Fantastic! Who could do that? She pitched her idea to Landon Wiese and his mind started to turn with ideas along with another woodworking friend Ron. Together, they made two “new,” gorgeous, sturdy coffee tables! I look forward to the day when we can be back in person to be renewed in our gathering, fellowship, worship, and to fully use these new tables. In time, God has a way of bringing out the good in everything and everyone, again and again. May we be patient and see how God is blessing and making all creation new. Be well, be safe and God Bless, Pastor Nate Making music during a pandemic isn’t the same. Nothing is the same for any of us. But because a musician’s job is to play with others and for others, this pandemic can be particularly spirit crushing. Working from home is not an option for most musicians. So, I have been fortunate enough to be able to make music at home for my congregation with the use of technology and an amazing team of song leaders who felt called to continue singing and learn new technology.
In November when I decided to plan a string quartet concert for the congregation, the thought was we all needed something to sooth our weary souls, and to help usher in the cheer of Christmas. I didn’t realize how much getting together with those three ladies to record hymns and carols would mean to the four of us. We met on Sunday 12/6, fully masked, socially distanced when getting ready, and were seated farther apart from each other than the recommended six feet. The moment we started playing and recording, we all felt it: the camaraderie of music we had been missing, the beauty of the music seeping into our thirsty souls to nurture us again, and the potential of a beautiful gift to nurture the souls of weary congregants gearing up for a holiday we usually celebrate together. As thrilled as the musicians were to play together, we are equally joyful that the beautiful strains of “Silent Night” and “Hark the Herald Angels” and many your other favorites will be performed for you in a streamed concert on Saturday, December 19th, at 6:30 pm. The concert will available on our Facebook page after the premiere time for you to view and enjoy as desired. Thank you to musicians, Audrey Nowak, Lori Murphy, and Jane Finch; thank you to Pastor Dara for her part; thank you to Adam Watney for running cameras; and thank you to Brent Schuettpelz for his technical expertise to pull it all together. Merry Christmas to you, Christ the King! From the Music Ministry (and symphony friends). Written By Heather Watney Advent is officially here, which means we have entered the season of waiting. This year we are excited to be offering many ways for those connected to Christ the King to be leaning into the season. Last Saturday, each family with a child in Sunday School had a special advent kit delivered to them. In that kit, there were materials to create a block nativity set, some ornaments, and a salt dough advent wreath. On top of that, they also received a packet of coloring sheets to help them mark this time of waiting. From the looks of the photos that have been coming in, those materials sure are making advent come to life for these young members and their families! We are grateful for all the ways you have contributed to Christ the King to make projects like this possible for our students! These projects make the time more meaningful to show them that we're not just counting down to Christmas, we are marking the days of waiting and longing for Jesus to break into this world!
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