January 2025
“From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way. So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation” - 1st Corinthians 5:16-18
The new year has arrived and with it New Year’s resolutions. It seems that every January our lives are inundated with advertisements and opportunities to be skinnier, wealthier, more organized, and better in some way, shape or form. Maybe this year, we can all take the start of the year to reflect on how I can do better and recognize January as a start to something new. New Year’s Resolutions can be great! They can help us to focus on things that are important to our mental or emotional well-being. They can start us down a path towards a better life. We know that we are imperfect beings and trying to better ourselves is a good Christian thing to do!
However, there is a danger to these resolutions as well. You see, if we get caught up in changing ourselves then we forget that we have already been transformed by the life, death and resurrection of Christ. We might forget that our identities are not grounded in a number on a scale or in a bank account or how many checks on that list we get to but rather in the waters of baptism that declare us children of God. This passage in Corinthians reminds us that the human point of view is often blind to the transformation Jesus has wrought in us already.
With these things in mind we have two questions as you enter the new year. First, what might it mean to address our resolutions not as ways to fix ourselves but rather as changes we get to make because we have already been transformed by God? Second, is there a resolution you can make this year around your relationship with God?
The church’s prayer for you as 2025 begins is that you would be inspired and challenged and full of life but above all those things; we pray that you remember that you are a child of God, fearfully and wonderfully made, and that is enough; for us, for those around you and for God.
-reprinted from a previous newsletter
JANUARY VOLUNTEERS
SUPPLY ACOLYTES
Jan 5 – Steve Schwendeman Jan 5 – Jaxon Verba
Jan 12 – Pastor Kent Meckler Jan 12 – Hannah Wharton
Jan 19 – Steve Schwendeman Jan 19 – Nolan Muhlenbruch
Jan 26 – Casey Simmons Jan 26 – Madi Muhlenbruch
USHERS ALTAR GUILD
Gene Thelke Monica Johnson
Kent Thelke Kathy Thelke
DEACON BREAD BAKER
Angela Wharton Kathy Thelke
COMMUNION SUNDAY
January 12 th , 2025
FLCW QUILTERS January 7 th at 1:00 p.m.
FIRST COUNCIL MEETING Thursday, January 2 nd at 6:00 p.m.
ANNUAL MEETING Sunday, January 26th following the 10 a.m. worship service
PRAYER REQUESTS for the family of Dennis Wesenberg, whose funeral was held from First on November 29 th , Janet Ziesman, Roger Iverson, the family of Cydney Clayton, all our home-bound and care center residents.
Please note that there was no December council meeting so that is why you are not finding any council minutes within this newsletter.
THANK YOU’S
Thank you from Shari Bral Thank you to members of First Lutheran Church for your cards, prayers and concern during and since my recent surgery. It meant so much to me that First Lutheran members took the
time to send me cards with words of encouragement.
Thank you from Marvin Moss Thank you to First Lutheran Church members for your prayers, cards, phone calls, visits and prayer shawl. I am taking cardiac rehabilitation therapy at Belmond and will be back in church as soon as I am able. Again, thanks for all you have done and continue to do for me.
Thank you to all who donated Christmas cards and who signed cards following the Harvest Festival potluck, or at their homes. A total of 445 cards were delivered to:
Iowa Falls Clarion Hampton
Scenic Manor The Meadows Leahy Grove
Ashbook Clarion Care Center Rehabilitation Center
Cedar Ridge
Also 36 cards were delivered to the Care Center in Perry, Iowa, 5 were mailed and 5 were hand delivered by our deacons.
First Lutheran Church spread a lot of joy to everyone who received a card.
WEATHER ANNOUNCEMENTS
During the winter months, should we need to cancel church due to inclement weather, please be aware that we will post the announcement on Facebook, send out an email and update the website. We will also contact KLMJ radio and KCCI TV channel 8 as soon as we are able to.
ANNUAL MEETING
First Lutheran’s annual meeting will be held on Sunday, January 26, 2025 following the worship service.If you have report that has been submitted for the annual report in the past then please know that the office will need that report again this year. We will be working on the annual report right after the first of the year so please be diligent in getting your reports turned in. They can be dropped off in the office or emailed to us at secretary@dowsfirstlutheran.com.
LSI
The new year brings new beginnings. At LSI, we walk alongside Iowans for all sorts of beginnings. We walk alongside parents-to-be as they prepare for the birth of their child. We welcome immigrants and refugees as they begin their new lives in Iowa. We train parents looking to adopt a child and create a new beginning for their family.
This January, we offer Thomas’s story of his new beginning.
In 1996, Congolese civil war broke out in the present-day countries of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Republic of the Congo, forcing then two-year-old Thomas Mbuthu into exile in a refugee camp in neighboring Zambia. After growing up in a refugee camp, now 27-year-old Thomas applied to come to the United States.
When Thomas landed at the Des Moines airport in an entirely foreign land in a state called Iowa, LSI caseworker Patrick Karemera greeted him.
“I said, ‘Welcome! This is your new home now! I am your brother. This is a new life. Feel free and feel safe,” shared Patrick, recounting his initial meeting with his client Thomas.
Thomas thanked him, explaining he had not expected to see someone like Patrick welcome him –someone who looked like himself and spoke his native languages of Lingala and Swahili.
“As a refugee, I wanted a better life. But I didn’t know where I was going. ‘What is going to happen to me?’” wondered Thomas aloud.
“When Patrick came to me, I could see the future.”
Patrick is from the same country as Thomas, coming to America just a few years prior. He works as a caseworker to welcome refugees to Iowa and helps them resettle, pursue their goals, and navigate the challenges of an entirely foreign place.
“I immigrated here, like Thomas. It’s rewarding to welcome somebody like me to come here to Iowa. This is my second home,” said Patrick.
Patrick admires how courageous, open-minded, and curious Thomas is. He encourages his client to dream big and work hard to achieve his goals.
“Life is about helping each other,” shared Patrick.
For more information, please contact Deb Whitford, LSI’s Director of Philanthropy and Church Relations, at Deborah.Whitford@LSIowa.org or 563-676-2065.
LSI is an affiliated social ministry partner of the Iowa congregations of the ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America) and a member of LSA (Lutheran Services in America). We proudly serve people of all ages, abilities, religions, sexes, gender identities, national origins, ethnicities, races, and sexual orientations. Learn more at LSIowa.org and facebook.com/LSI.iowa.