The Philippian The Monthly Newsletter of St. Philip’s Lutheran Church of Hastings, Minnesota Come and Worship...Come and Serve...Come and Learn...Come as you are …Philip said to him, “Come and see” John 1:46 December 2015 Christmas Events Sunday, December 20 Children’s Christmas Program 10:30 am Monday, December 21 Early Learning Center Christmas Program 6:00 and 7:00 pm Thursday, December 24 Christmas Eve Worship 3:00 pm 5:00 pm 10:00 pm
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The Philippian...Lewis House tied by students during Wednesday night fellowship events. * 30 donated food bags students sorted for HFS Thanksgiving food drive. * 1 giant mixed-media
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Fall Events Begin
The Philippian The Monthly Newsletter of St. Philip’s Lutheran Church of Hastings, Minnesota
Come and Worship...Come and Serve...Come and Learn...Come as you are
…Philip said to him, “Come and see” John 1:46
December 2015
Christmas Events
Sunday, December 20 Children’s Christmas Program
10:30 am
Monday, December 21 Early Learning Center
Christmas Program 6:00 and 7:00 pm
Thursday, December 24 Christmas Eve Worship
3:00 pm 5:00 pm 10:00 pm
2 THE PHILIPPIAN December 2015
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with
God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning
with God. All things came into being through him, and
without him not one thing came into being. What has
come into being in him was life, and the life was the light
of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the
darkness did not overcome it.
John 1:1-3
“The light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not
overcome it.” It seems that there
is a lot of darkness in our world,
both literally and figuratively. The
darkness of night seems to creep
in earlier and earlier and we have
to wait later and later for the
sunrise. Even farther to the north,
people are affected by “Seasonal
Affective Disorder” which comes from not experiencing
enough sunshine.
On a similar note, it seems that there is a figurative
darkness that grips our world. From alcohol abuse, to an
uncertain economic future for many of our young
members, to the realities ISIS, Al Qaeda, Boko Haram and
the corresponding battle against terrorism, it is clear that
there is no shortage of sources that seek to overcome us
with the forces of darkness.
Into this world and into each dark space in our lives
comes a light. It is a light that shines in the darkness. He is
the living Word of God, Jesus Christ. It is his life that
becomes our light.
We may vainly try to keep out the darkness during this
season with lights hung on our homes and our trees. They
are pretty and we associate them with good feelings. They
also are a way for us to acknowledge that darkness was
not what God intended. However, to address the true
power of darkness we need a light whose source is
beyond us.
Somewhere deep within us is a remembrance that says
that darkness was not what God intended. God intended
that we should all have a close loving relationship with
Him. For this to happen something new had to happen,
and so it did!
God gave new life, spiritual life, to us by the birth of His
Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus became the light for the world to
shine God’s love for all people.
During that dark night of the first Christmas in Bethlehem,
the heavens opened and the glory of God shone around
those shepherds and angels sang of that bright new Word
coming into the world. Later, darkness closed in again
around Calvary. But in the bright light of Easter morning,
sin and death were no longer victorious. The darkness did
not overcome Jesus and now his light has become our
light. And so it is with gratitude and joy that together we
can sing, “Shine, Jesus, Shine!” Peace be with you this holy
season.
Your Servant in Christ,
Pastor Geier
- AMONG OUR OWN –
Sympathies to… Linda Wallner and family as they mourn the death of her
sister, Joyce Anders.
Lois Wroge at the death of her father.
Congratulations to…
Anthony and Lori Keller (son of Randy and Diane
Keller) on their marriage.
Donn and Susan Nelson on their 40th Wedding
anniversary on December 20.
Rich and Luann Roiger on their 15th wedding
anniversary on December 30.
Hazel Jean Gilles (daughter of Dan and Ashley Gilles)
on her baptism.
Anton Edward Brown (son of Aron and Allison Brown)
on his baptism.
Child of God, Anton Edward Brown
THE PHILIPPIAN December 2015 3
Thank You!
A SINCERE THANK YOU to the members of St.
Philip’s who supported our lunch and bake sale on
Saturday, November 21. It takes so many different skills
to make this one day event a success. Thanks to our lefse
makers, vegetable choppers and peelers and bakers.
Thanks to the members that came to buy bake goods and
stayed to enjoy a bowl of soup with family and friends. In
addition to the bakes goods donated by our members we
made and sold 232 packages of lefse, 68 quarts and 100
bowls of soup. Over $4000 was raised in just 3 short
hours. In addition Thrivent Financial for Lutherans
provided $250 to buy the groceries for the soup. The
monies raised are used to provide bibles story books for
our 3 year olds, bibles for our 3rd graders, help with
tuition for a female college student in Tanzania and
financial support for other mission projects. Thank you
again.
Susan Cruse and Kathy Stockman, co-chairs
THANK YOU! With your help we collected 76 gift-filled
shoeboxes! These gifts, lovingly packed by you, will give
Operation Christmas Child the opportunity to share
God’s love and the message of salvation through faith in
Jesus Christ with children around the world. What an
amazing gift! Thank you for your love and generosity!!
Robyn Tank and Emily Preston
THANK YOU for the visits, meals and rides that you
provide for our family during my recent injury and
surgeries. Thank you also for your prayers and kindness
during my recovery. We are so blessed to be part of a
caring, generous and Spirit-filled community like St. Philip’s
Lutheran Church!
Blessings to you,
Annette Hanson, Jeff, Miranda, Linnea and Jared
Dear Congregation of St. Philip’s Lutheran Church,
Thank you for inviting me to share in worship with you on
Sunday, November 8. What a joy it was! The worship
service, music and readings were so well done. God has
blessed you with many talents. It was wonderful to see
and hear so many participating as well! I hope the painting
continues to tell the love of Jesus for all who see it.
Blessings in Christ,
Paul Oman
I wish to share a very genuine thank you for everyone
who has welcomed me and my family to St. Philip’s
Lutheran Church and the Hastings community. From the
strong backs that unloaded two large moving trucks, to
the many creative “Paper or Pound” housewarming gifts,
we were overwhelmed by the warmth and generosity of
our faith family.
I look forward to the opportunity to get to know you as I
serve you. I pray that God will continue to bless our
partnership in the Gospel to draw us closer to each other
and to Christ.
Pastor Gregory Geier
P.S. Since you asked…
After almost three weeks in the office I am grateful for the
patience of our great staff, and for the opportunities to get
to meet many of you. There have been a few questions
that I would like to address even as I hope for more
questions.
First of all, as to how I wish to be addressed, I prefer
Pastor Geier or just pastor if being addressed in a formal
capacity. I encourage adults to call me Greg. If you call me
Pastor Greg I will not correct you and am not offended,
but since a number of you have asked I wish to share my
preferences.
Secondly, as to when I can be called or notified of
something, the answer is whenever it is convenient for
you. If you or a family member is going to the hospital
and would like a pastoral visit, I would like to know. If
surgery is scheduled and I could be of support to you or
your family, I would like to know. If there is something
going on in your life that you would like to share I hope to
be available to you. I do not want to impose myself upon
you but I care about every member of our congregation
and desire to witness God’s love to you in any way that I
can. And while it is true that being a pastor means that
there are many “irons in the fire” at any given time, I
never want to give any of you the impression that I am
too busy to be there for you at a time of need. I am also
grateful for our prayer team and Gordon Gathright who
are also available to represent our faith family in walking