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A Thank-YouDear Members of Gloria Dei, I want to express my sincere thanks for the beautiful orchid you presented to me in recognition of my contribution to the GDL Rental Committee over the years. With deepest gratitude, and warmest wishes. Yours in Christ, Maureen Kerfoot
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CHRISTMAS EVE SERVICE - CHANGE of TIMEOur Christmas Eve Service Time has been changed from 6:30pm to 5:00pm. |
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Christmas Bread-Baking Workshop and PotluckThe participants and friends of our English Language Conversation Circle are celebrating the conclusion of our 5th season by holding a poppyseed Christmas bread-baking workshop and we are invited! A potluck lunch will also be served, so bring your favority dish. (Image is for illustration purposes only). Image: Maksym Kozlenko CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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Refugee Families UpdateWe had the privilege of welcoming members of the Qaderi family to our worship service last Sunday. They are settling in to their new home, grateful to be safe from deportation or reprisal from the Taliban. Their most pressing need is finding employment. Nima was a dentist by profession in Afghanistan, and Kallilulah has many skills - plumbing, tailoring and a handyman for all types of repairs. If you have any tailoring needs or garment repairs, please consider Kallilulah. The other BIG News we have, is that our second regfugee sponsorship family from Ethiopia - Filimon, Hiwot and their baby Shalom will be arriving on Wednesday, Dec. 11. Their plane is scheduled to land at 5:30PM in the domestic arrivals. It would be wonderful if there could be a delegation from Gloria Dei to meet them. |
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Seeds of Hope - Online Advent DevotionalLutherans Connect is back with another Advent online devotional.
LC† Seeds of Hope - Daily Devotions for the Season of Advent and Christmas
We all come from a seed and the first seeds were given by God in the creation of the world. At a time of year when we have more darkness hours than daylight, It can be helpful to remember that the seeds of new life continue to germinate in the soil of the earth, preparing to come forth in their time.
How can we be like the seeds, becoming incubators of new life? When the world feels a bit frightening, how can seeds encourage us with their unstoppable life force?
Join us this Advent as we reflect on the beauty of seeds and consider their role in the agrarian society of Jesus' time, as well as the way in which seeds were helpful metaphors for Jesus' own storytelling. We will look at the keepers of the seeds in our own world and in Indigenous societies, and in agricultural communities where preserving seeds is essential to a way of life. Finally, the project will build on last year's Advent Celtic devotional, turning to Celtic wisdom about the earth and its capacity for endurance.
As we wait for Jesus to offer us hope, how can we ourselves generate hope from within our anxieties and doubts? What is waiting to be born anew in us that needs the light of God to bring to fruit?"
You can find the devotions on the Lutherans Connect Facebook Page or on their blog.
Image: by Tony Alter
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A Message of Joy: LWF Advent Calendar 2024During Advent, the Lutheran World Federation will share messages of joy. They come from LWF member churches and country programs and share short messages, stories, or ideas that help us understand and reflect on what joy is today. |
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Christmas BeatitudesBlessed are those who have no “home for the holidays,” |
