Rev Ivan Gunderman
Pastor

450-5504 Home

  STAFF OF CLC

Donna Linker
Parish Administrator

Sharon Brewer
Office Assistant

John A. Smith
Music Director

Amy Smith,
Organist/Pianist

Delma Reid,
Pianist

Diana Schulze
Bell Choir Director

Jennifer Munyon
Children’s Center Director

Craig Jidov
Custodian/Grounds

and many, many wonderful volunteers!

COUNCIL MEMBERS

  CHRIST LUTHERAN MESSENGER

Monthly Publication

Volume 517                 January 2009                            Number 01

Across the pastor’s desk…

Throughout the ages most cultures in the northern hemisphere marked the winter solstice with a special celebration. In many places it was a time of cold and dormancy. Plants had largely lost their foliage, crops were long harvested, the soil lay dormant, the days could be very short.
Most of these cultures counted the New Year as beginning on the winter solstice (Rome oddly enough began the new year with the spring equinox which originally landed on Mars {March} 1st, though it also held a major celebration which originally began the tenth month or December 1st). Since before Julius Caesar calendars were not kept accurately or updated consistently, eventually the winter solstice moved to the end of December. At the time of the early church it fell on December 25th.
These pagan New Year celebrations were centered on themes of hope for another year, expectation for renewal of the earth, and in many cases opportunities to engage in somewhat drunken and licentious behavior.
     The early Christians attempted to replace these rather unrestrained celebrations with something that kept in view the plan of God’s salvation in the event of Christ. For Christians, Christmas replace the New Year celebration.
      In our contemporary world neither Christmas Day nor New Year’s Day falls on the winter solstice. As a result, both are observed in some fashion. Christmas Day is no longer celebrated only by Christians. And New Year’s Day is no longer disregarded or replaced by Christians. Which raises an interesting situation. What and how should a Christian celebrated during this time of year?

Of course, we all have been exposed to the lament about the way in which the Christian celebration of Christmas has been overtaken by paganism in commercialism and sentimentalism (“the true spirit or feeling of Christmas”). That its original intent could be recaptured by present day Christians to the exclusion of “once or twice a year Christians” and other non-believers is almost certainly not possible nor probably very practical for that matter.

However, that being said, it should also be said that Christians should be encouraged to celebrate during this time of year what has been celebrated from early times. In the coming of Jesus, God has done something very unique and special that changes things for us and places us firmly into the sphere of God’s love – the kingdom of God. We are claimed by God in such a way that we can respond totally and uniquely to his love. There is no need for us to convince ourselves that we’re “doing pretty good” or that we have “started a new life” or that we have “turn over a new leaf” – the ancient themes of the New Year.

How then should a Christian celebrate the New Year?

Probably we should do it by watching football. It is too easy for us to fall into the human trap of thinking that there is something more we can do to live the good life, the full life, the “saved” life. We can’t. The rich young man in the Gospel of Matthew who asked Jesus this question was told by Jesus “to sell everything and follow.” Since he was rich and in his mind favored by God, this is not what he wanted to hear. He went away disappointed. To try to “be saved” can easily distract us from remembering that it was God who gave us new life in Jesus.

I’ve stopped making New Year’s resolutions. The last one I made was a couple of years ago when I resolved to quit bowling. Since I haven’t bowled in forty years I’ve had no trouble keeping it.

So if we can’t do something to “be saved”, what can we do.  Mostly what we can do is live lives in response to God’s saving love come into our world and lives, which is actually the proper celebration of Christmas. God acts and we respond; that’s the way it is and has always been.

Maybe another way of saying it is to regard New Years as a part of the twelve days of Christmas. That puts it into the perspective of the early church which is not bad.

 
Pastor Ivan

FAMILY PROMISE—Family Promise returns to Christ Lutheran the week of January 18th—25th.   A sign-up board is in the Narthex .  We still need someone(s) to prepare dinner on Tuesday 20th, Thursday 22nd, and Saturday 24th.  As well, we need overnight hosts every night, but Friday.  A huge thank you to our Boy Scout troop which has volunteered to be the evening hosts every evening as well as prepare dinner and stay the night on Friday.  An informational class will be held early January for all interested in learning how it works and what is needed.  The families will eat breakfast and dinner in the social hall and sleep in the Dinning House.  Please see the board in the Narthex for a description of what each job entails.  During our last week, one family left to move into their new apartment.  Two additional families have since been able to move into their own apartments.  Family Promise is a very worthwhile helping hand.
 

Member Spotlight

Meet Barbara Dudman… In 1962, Barbara came to the United States as a young bride with her Army husband, Henry, and their baby daughter. They settled in Las Vegas. A few years later, Barbara was widowed, yet chose to stay in Vegas and make it her home. She said it was a nice little town (it was little at the time) and she liked it here. As life has a way of moving along, Barbara met Tom Dudman. They were married in 1966 and 42 years later are still going strong. Together they raised four children. They attended Mt. View Church, but in 1972 they joined Christ Lutheran. They felt at home here. Barbara has always been involved in the women’s groups and has taken her turn as Madame President. She currently serves with the Altar Guild and the Jolly Quilters. Through the years Barbara and her family have enjoyed camping, boating and fishing. Although fishing was never her favorite activity, she did learn to water ski. They had many good times exploring new places to camp and traveled a bit in their motor home after Tom retired. When the kids were teenagers, she worked for bit at Grand Central. It is closed now, but was similar to a Target. She also worked for a short time at Dairy Queen as a favor to some family friends, but preferred to not work and be home for the kids.

Due to World War II, Barbara’s family relocated to a small Bavarian town called Kulmbach, in Germany from what is now Poland. She is very thankful that after the war this area of Germany fell into American/Allied hands. Many people didn’t emigrate as far and after the war ended up in the Russian occupied East Germany. Barbara has two brother’s who still live in Germany.

I asked Barbara to share something about herself that many people don’t know. With a laugh, she said that she isn’t as nice as people think she is. Patience is not her strongest virtue, but she hasn’t give up - she’s still working on it! She also would like to be more organized. She’s not alone there. Barbara is most proud of the loving and respectful family that she and Tom raised. They bring her much joy. She is also very proud of the charitable work the quilters do. They are responsible for keeping many homeless people warm. She believes that we should always be thankful for what we have and that we should be more positive and more prayerful. Barbara does her Daily Devotions every morning before letting the day get away from her and feels something is missing when she skips them.

I asked Barbara for a last parting thought, before I let her go and she said that we have to take time for enjoyment, no matter how busy life gets.

Warm, Comforting Soup

January LSSN food collection -  We will be collecting soup—cans, packages, broth, ramen noodles, cup-o-soup, chili, crackers and the fixins.  The theme is warm, nourishing and comforting.  We will conclude our collection with Souperbowl of Caring, Sunday, February 1st.  Souper Bowl of Caring— We will once again participate in this national program to help fight hunger.  While we will be tuning in to the 2009 Super Bowl Game, we ask that you take the time to contribute to our Souper Bowl of Caring collection.  Think of whatever amount you will be spending on snacks and refreshments for the Big Game and contribute a like amount to this worthy cause.  All money collected goes to support a local agency food program.

Heavenly Ha Ha’s…

These church bulletin bloopers were forwarded to the office and I thought I would share a few:

*The Fasting and Prayer conference includes meals.

*The sermon this morning: “Jesus walks on water.”  The sermon this evening:  “Searching for Jesus.”

 *Don’t let worry kill you off—let the Church help.

 *Weight Watchers will meet at 7PM.  Please use the large double door at the side entrance.

*Low Self Esteem Support Group will meet Thursday at 7PM.  Please use the back door.

*Irving Benson and Jessie Carter were married on October 24th.  So ends a friendship that began in their school days.

*Please place your donation in the envelope along with the deceased person you want remembered.

*The pastor would appreciate it if the ladies of the congregation would lend him their electric girdles for the pancake breakfast next Sunday.

*The church will host an evening of fine dining, super entertainment and gracious hostility.

*A bean supper will be held on Tuesday evening in the church hall.  Music will follow.

*Barbara remains in the hospital.  She is having trouble sleeping and requests tapes of Pastor Jack’s sermons.

*For those of you who have children and don’t know it, we have a nursery downstairs.

January News from the Children’s Center


The Children’s Center would like to wish everyone a healthy and prosperous New Year.

Our current enrollment is 85 students with varying schedules.  We are still taking enrollments; and offer a 10% discount to all confirmed Christ Lutheran Church members.

We are very proud of our three and four year old children for a job well done in performing the Christmas Program.  It was incredible!  The Christmas Program was developed and directed by Ms. Wanda Ellis, it is a blessing to have such an amazing teacher teach the children the story of Christmas through a play that they have the opportunity to perform in front of our families and friends.

We would like to thank Marv and Audrey for their generous donation of the DVD player and VCR, it is very much appreciated. As well, thank you to Pastor Sam for the booster seat. We are so grateful for all the help we’re given.

During the month of January the children will continue to learn shapes, colors, the Lord’s Prayer, 10 commandments, left and right.  This month the children will learn letters Mm-Oo. They will review all numbers and learn numbers 10-11. Color review: orange, green, purple, and black.  Shape review and learn the hexagon.  The themes include: freezing and melting experiments, learn about Alaska, the 100th day of school, health and safety, wholesome foods and exercise, The Polar Express, Martin Luther King discussion, and shadows.  The Bible lessons this month include: God keeps baby Moses safe, Moses meets God at the burning bush, Moses pleads with Pharaoh, and Moses crosses the Red Sea The weekly Bible lessons and themes can also be found on our website: www.clkids.org on the events calendar.
                                                                                                                
This month we would again appreciate donations of extra diapers and wipes.   We also would appreciate CD PLAYERS, doll house toys and people, pretend food and housekeeping toys, and any toys that would be appropriate for toddlers and preschool age children.  We are also trying to build up our classroom technology centers; donations are welcome to help purchase new listening center equipment.

Did you know?  You can designate Christ Lutheran Children’s Center to receive funding from your Target Store REDcard.  To change or designate Christ Lutheran Children’s Center do the following:  Just visit target.com/tcoe, or call 1-800-316-6142 to designate our school.   All you need is our School ID number 22534.  The school will read CHRIST LUTHERAN CHILDREN’S CTR.  We will receive a percentage of the amount of each purchase in the form of a cash donation from Target through the Take Charge of Education® program.
 

So if you're going to Target anyway, please consider using your Target® Visa® or Target® Card. Big thanks to those who are already doing their part to make a great school even better.

We are now enrolled in the “Campbell’s Labels for Education Program.”  This will be an ongoing program to collect Campbell UPCs and Caps on participating products.  This includes: Campbell’s®, Campbell’s® Soup At Hand®, Campbell’s® Chunky™ Soup, Campbell’s® Healthy Request, Campbell’s® Supper Bakes®, Campbell’s® Select™, Campbell’s® Soup to Go!, Franco-American®, Pepperidge Farm®, Swanson®, Market Day®, V8® beverages, Prego® Pasta sauces, and Campbell’s® Foodservice.  Please go to the following website and designate Christ Lutheran Children’s Center in the sweepstakes to win 1 million bonus points for our school!  www.gameplan4health.com.  The program will help us earn educational materials for the school.  We greatly appreciate your participation.  The collection box will be in the Children’s Center office.

Albertson’s Preferred Savings Card

As many of you already know, the Children’s Center has been earning much needed funding through the Albertson’s Community Partners Program.   We need your help to continue to earning funds.  If you have a Preferred Savings card please call (877)-932-7948 and mention our organization ID 49000121763.  This must be done by February 28^th in order to earn funds for our organization, but the sooner the better!  Please pass this information around to everyone you know, friends, family and co-workers to help Christ Lutheran Children’s Center by linking their Albertson’s card.  If you do not have an Albertson’s card you can get one at any Albertson’s or online at Albertsons.com.  Every time you shop at Albertson’s and scan your linked Preferred Savings Card we earn up to 4% of your shopping dollars!  It costs you nothing extra, but will make a big difference to us.  Thank you again for your continued support, please pass on the information.  Thank you!

If you haven’t returned an estimate of giving card for 2009, it’s not too late

Chancel Choir Notes

Submitted by John A. Smith

Chancel Choir Director

The Chancel Choir will be offering special music for the 7:30 p.m. Christmas Eve service. We always welcome new singers, so if you would like to give back to God a small portion of the gifts He has given you, please join us any Wednesday from  7:00—8:30p.m. for our weekly rehearsal.  Each Sunday we sing an anthem and service music for the 8:00a.m. service.

Bell Choir

Rehearses on Monday evenings at 7:15p.m.

Contemporary Musicians

Rehearse Monday evenings at 6:00p.m.

Worship Assistants needed

**We could use some relief in the sound booth.  We thank Jim and Marie for diligently operating the sound and power point on Sundays, but we would love to let them come out of their cage for good behavior every so often.  If you could relieve them one Sunday a month, it would be tremendously appreciated.
 

Also Greatly needed, more

**Ushers

**Communion Assistants

**Readers

**Assistant Ministers

Please note on your attendance sheet if you will help in any of these areas.    Thank you very much.

The “Super” Men’s Breakfast

The Men’s breakfasts are held on the 1st Saturday of each month (January 3rd) at 8:30 a.m. at Denny’s on West Lake Mead, just east of Tenaya. 

If you would like to go and need a ride,
call Charlie Fitzgerald 648-3783 or 561-1056.  Look forward to seeing you there.
 

Armenian Epiphany (Christmas and New Year) Celebration

January 5th at 7:30 p.m.

Come celebrate with us, the visit of the Magi.

Taize’ Ecumenical Prayer Service

Sunday, February 8, 2009  6-7 p.m.

The Lakes Lutheran Church,

8200 West Sahara Ave.

(Corner of Sahara and Cimarron)

Call The Lakes Lutheran at 363-2515 for more information.

Ladies…Ladies...Ladies

Keep an eye out for information regarding the next ladies luncheon.  It will be February 14th at 11:30 a.m.  You won’t want to miss it.

Congregational Meeting—February 8th.

Prayer List        

   (H) Health
   (S) Strength
   (C) Comfort
   (D) In danger—i.e. military deployment

(Christ Lutheran Church Prayer group meets Wednesday morning from 9:30 am to 10:30 am to pray for those included in our Prayer List. All are welcome!)