News & Events - Christ Lutheran Church

COPE - The Cost Of Poverty Experience

5/6/2022

Those of us who have "never walked in their shoes" probably have a hard time understanding what life is like for a person who lives in poverty. Make plans now to attend this major justice awareness event! The Cost Of Poverty Experience or COPE is a 2-hour interactive event that offers a glimpse into the lives of low-income individuals and families living in the community.

The COPE event will begin at 10:00 AM and continue with lunch provided for all participants, children in childcare, and volunteers at noon. Sponsored by King Of Glory Lutheran Church, this event is free to attend, but space is limited.

Where: King of Glory Lutheran Church, 6411 LBJ Freeway
When: June 4th (Saturday), 10 AM-noon
Cost: free

Follow this link to learn more: www.kingofglory.com/cope
Do you still have questions? Contact hello@clcdallas.org

Raffle Tickets to Help Trip to El Paso & Mexico

5/6/2022

GLOBAL MISSION TRIP TO EL PASO AND MEXICO
We plan an immersion trip to El Paso to learn about the migrant experience from June 7-13, 2022. We are partnering with Iglesia Luterana Cristo Rey for this opportunity to learn and serve. Participants will meet recent immigrants and would-be immigrants, visit a colonia (rural settlements), see people in court seeking to immigrate and assist the Border Servant Team. We will worship together, eat together, pray together and serve together.

How can you be helpful in this ministry?
Consider buying a raffle ticket (or more) to help us cover the basic costs, and you might even win a beautiful blanket! We have an Afghan and a quilt for the win. Get 1 ticket for $3.00 or 4 for $10! Tickets are on sale until the drawing on May 22.

Email hello@clcdallas.org for questions

Monumental VBS at Christ Lutheran Church

5/2/2022

We look forward to Celebrating God's Greatness with our Monumental themed VBS. We will travel through the Southwest and experience some amazing adventures, meet new friends and learn more through God's word. songs, crafts and fellowship.

We will have sessions of VBS beginning at 11:00 am on Sundays following our 10:00 am Summer Worship service.

Dates are: June 19, June 26, July 10 and July 17. We plan to follow each session with a luncheon. More details to come!

As always, all are encouraged to participate and invite your neighbors and friends. We will have many volunteer opportunities and will begin to firm those up in May. Please let us know how and when you are available to assist.

The CLC Preschool will begin their Monumental Journey as part of morning activities June 21 - June 24. Please let us know if you have interest and availability to assist with that.

Yours in Christ,

The Youth and Family Team

Suzanne Dunkelberg

Register Your Child for VBS

MEF

5/2/2022

“I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these
brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” Matthew 25: 40

Since 1996, the Mission Endowment Fund of the Northern Texas-Northern Louisiana Synod has awarded over 150 ministry grants to multiple congregations to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ in their communities. Total funds given to date = OVER $1 MILLION

These grants have changed the lives of

Incarcerated men in recovery programs who hear the life-saving message of Scripture
Faithful parishioners who desire to strengthen their congregations with internal programs
Single parents who receive food for their hungry children
Young children struggling academically who receive compassionate tutoring in a safe environment
Elderly who need assistance who enjoy a hot meal delivered to them by youth members
Day workers who receive a free breakfast and a prayer to begin their day
And so many more programs and projects

You too can start a new ministry project by applying for a 2023 MEF grant.

Application Information is available at:
https://www.ntnl.org/ministries/mef/ or contact mef@ntnl.org

Let the Mission Endowment Fund support you with seed
Money as you develop a ministry to change lives!

See what seed money from an MEF Grant can do!

How MEF Grants Change Lives:

Faithful Vision Leaders who receive seed money for mission development and new congregations with exceptional potential
Single Mothers who struggle to feed their children
School Children who cannot afford their classroom supplies

Incarcerated Men who are hungry for the Good News

Hurting Men and Women who want to recover from addictions

Elderly who receive home cooked meals and visits from church youth

Day Workers who start their mornings with a hot breakfast and a prayer

Medically or otherwise vulnerable parishioners who remain part of the community by joining worship online

Young Men and Women who are searching for spiritual growth and involvement in alternate settings

Lutherans of All Ages who are eager to learn leadership skills via online learning and retreats

Young Children who are challenged or left behind with compassionate tutorial programs

Leaders or Clergy who seek spiritual enrichment and encouragement

Individuals New to Being Lutherans who are offered Biblical and spiritual encouragement to grow their faith

And many more

Contact: mef@ntnl.org
680 Copper Canyon Rd * Argyle, TX 76226

Legacy Partners - Enduring Vision for Mission

The Mission Endowment Fund (MEF) supports ministry and outreach programs in the Northern Texas – Northern Louisiana Synod, especially for smaller and rural churches. It’s the synod’s funding arm for its grant-giving ministry, and it has been changing lives since 1996.

The MEF gives grants to community-oriented mission projects through congregations, connecting us with people we might not reach otherwise. Bishop Erik Gronberg promotes this ministry by adding, “The Mission Endowment Fund of the NT-NL is a true sign that
we are #InMissionTogether. The sole purpose of the MEF is to seed ministry to move our congregations outward in sharing the gospel in their communities.”

Legacy Giving

Through legacy giving, you can designate a portion of your assets to be donated to the MEF after you pass away. Long after the end of your life, your gift will still be changing lives.

The MEF has grown to almost $2 million. The principle is invested, and the income is used to fund grants. Your legacy gift will provide a lasting income stream for future ministry, continuing your stewardship far into the future

Make an Impact

We’re deeply excited to extend our support of the church beyond our lifetimes, and we invite you to join us.

A gift from you means that a child, a parent, an addict, a student, a prisoner, or someone in need will be touched through the many ministries we support.

The MEF grant-giving ministry has funded over 150 Christ- centered ministries with over 1 million dollars since the first grant in 1996! Your legacy gift will help increase our reach and change more lives far into the future.

Reasons to Give

Change lives: Your gift will change lives, and maybe even save lives, in the name of Jesus Christ.
Support ministries in need: The Mission Endowment Fund supports underfunded ministries and newly developing congregations.
Bless your church: Regardless of your financial resources, you could make a true difference for the future of the church you love.
Ongoing generosity: Keep giving year after year, long after you are gone. You are making an eternal gift. If you are passionate about giving while you are alive, why not stay passionate about giving afterwards?

How Can I Make a Legacy Gift?

There are many ways to leave a legacy gift, and it doesn’t need to be a complicated legal document.

You can write the MEF into your will or estate plan. Ask us for our Attorney’s Guide. If you already have a will or estate plan, then you can simply sign a one- page codicil to amend it. No need to write a new will, and no lawyer required. We are happy to provide a sample codicil.
You can also designate the MEF as the beneficiary for your IRA, life insurance policy, or other investments. You can connect with your investment counselor or Lutheran Foundation of the Southwest for more complicated plans.

How Much Should I Give?

Any amount is welcome—you don’t need to be a millionaire. Your gift will make a significant impact for years to come.

We recommend you set a percentage, rather than a fixed amount. Think of it like tithing. You’ve given 10% of your income during your life—why not continue afterwards?

We also recommend splitting your legacy gift tithe: 5% to your home congregation, and 5% to the Mission Endowment Fund, or a portion of your choosing.

Next Steps

If you want to make a legacy gift, choose one or more of these options.

Contact your attorney to make a will or estate plan that includes a legacy gift to the MEF. Or sign a one-page codicil.
Contact your financial advisor to designate the MEF as the beneficiary for your IRA, life insurance policy, or other investments.
Email us at mef@ntnl.org to let us know you are making a gift

Mission Endowment Fund of the Northern Texas-Northern Louisiana Synod 680 Copper Canyon Road, Argyle, TX 76226
940-241-2099 X 105 | mef@ntnl.org

Sermon Preview: Feed My Sheep

4/27/2022

James Tissot, "Christ Appears on the Shore of Lake Tiberias," ca. 1890, public domain (via Wikimedia Commons)

All of this Sunday's readings are powerhouses, but I have a special fondness for the Gospel passage (John 21:1-19). I have a memory of preaching on that text years before my ordination (thanks to our three-year cycle of readings, I can narrow the options down to 2004 or 2007) and while my words are long lost, I remember the vehemence with which I recounted the key dialogue (which I've taken the liberty of laying out as dialogue):

JESUS: “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?”
PETER: “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.”
JESUS: “Feed my lambs. Simon son of John, do you love me?”
PETER: “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.”
JESUS: “Tend my sheep. Simon son of John, do you love me?”
PETER [wounded]: “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.”
JESUS: “Feed my sheep. Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go.”
NARRATOR: He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.
JESUS: “Follow me.”

It's such a great moment. Three times Jesus tests Peter's love, mirroring the three times Peter denied Jesus on the night of his arrest. You can imagine Peter's shame over that moment and his hurt at being interrogated in this way. Peter even stands up to Jesus: you know everything, you know the answer to this question. And with each affirmation, Jesus turns Peter's role toward the service of the church to come. "Feed my sheep."

On one level, this is perhaps a story about how the church gathered around the "disciple whom Jesus loved" (by tradition identified as John the gospel writer) came to accept the authority of Peter. But on a direct, literal level, it's a story about love and regret, past and future, a moment and the lifetime stretching forth from it. Peter was once a young man, doing as he wished. As an old man, however, he will be taken away, fastened to a cross, and ripped from this life as a witness to the Jesus he loves (He is always just old Peter, though; in the next verse after the reading stops, he points to the other disciple and says "what about him!?").

And all of this happens in the context of an exhausted, pointless fishing expedition. Peter doesn't know what to do after all the excitement of the death and rising of Jesus, so he just goes back to what he knows. They can't catch a thing until Jesus appears, and as he does, he is making them some fish. At his command, they cast their nets again and bring in a vast haul.

Here the miraculous and the ordinary sit side by side (as they so often do in the Gospels). Jesus appears miraculously and feeds his friends with the everyday fare of their world. They do what they know and yet they do it with shocking results.

I love the painting of this scene by James Tissot above. Normally, we might expect to see Jesus from the perspective of the disciples. Instead, we see the scene from behind Jesus, looking out at the small, ordinary, forlorn figures of his friends. They're all waiting for something, and all about to become the thing they're waiting for.

FED AND FORGIVEN

4/15/2022

All Ages Exploration of Holy Communion
Sunday at 10 am in Room 220

Join us as we put a wrap on our Holy Communion series and one more chance to ace Pastor Ben’s quiz.
Here are some hints:

How many sacraments does the Lutheran Church have?

Somewhere between 1 and 3

What three characteristics are required to be a sacrament?

CBC
PEAW
GOGG

Adult Leader: Virginia Worley
Pre-K through 5th Grade Leaders: Kjerstine Nielsen and Cindy Irons Confirmation will continue their study with Marc Hatcher. High schoolers are welcome to join adults.

Mark your calendar now to celebrate First Communion for Harper and Joey Krumholz on May 22! Reception to follow 11 am service.

Finished

4/7/2022

LEVRIER Guillaume - Flèche en feu - Spire on Fire.png, converted into JPEG by Habitator terrae Shared under license CC BY-SA 4.0

It’s a busy season at church and at home right now, and I have struggled more than usual to articulate the hope of the Gospel and the mission of the Church in the midst of each day’s demands. I hope that soon, I’ll have something worthwhile to say about how I’ve been spending much of these last two months. But for now, I went back to my Good Friday sermon from 2019. Partly to encourage everyone to participate in the Three Days (Maundy Thursday, April 14; Good Friday, April 15; and the Easter Vigil, April 16), and partly to prevent myself from preaching it again, I thought I’d share it here. See you in church!:

In the early 400s, a Christian writer described a relic in Jerusalem believed to be the crown of thorns imposed on Jesus’ head before his crucifixion. Whether this relic was genuine, or what anyone said about it earlier than that I don’t know. It was certainly believed to be the real thing.

In the 11th century, the crown of thorns was moved from Jerusalem to Byzantium, the old eastern part of the Roman Empire. Two hundred years later the Byzantine emperor used the crown of thorns as collateral for a loan from the city of Venice. Since the Byzantine Empire was falling apart at the time, the emperors couldn’t make the payments. So the crown was redeemed by the King of France. He brought it to Paris, where it was housed in the church of Sainte-Chappelle until the French Revolution in 1789. The revolutionary government moved the crown to the National Library, where it stayed until the middle of the 19th century, when it was given a new home in a relic chapel of the city’s newly-renovated cathedral, Notre-Dame de Paris.

On Monday [April 15, 2019] the world watched this astonishing piece of artistic and engineering mastery, fused with centuries of profound religious devotion, go up in flames. Those people especially committed to the religious significance of the place worried about the crown--would it, too, be lost in the flames along with the irreplaceable woodwork and the Gothic-style spire.

But the priest who serves as chaplain of the Paris firefighters, Father Jean-Marc Fournier, rushed in and rescued the crown of thorns and the consecrated Sacrament--the body of Christ--from the flames. The irreplaceable treasures of the cathedral were passed hand to hand, out of the burning structure to safety.

Everything dies. People die, of course. Their heart ruptures or fails. Cancer cells take over their body. They suffer head trauma from a car crash or they overdose, they’re shot or starved or they hang on a cross until their legs can’t hold their chest up and they suffocate. But not just people. Books die. Ideas die. Whole nations and empires and systems of law and government die. The Byzantine Empire died. The Roman Empire died. They all do, eventually.

Even buildings die. They die in earthquakes and floods, they die of neglect or hostility, they get replaced. They burn. Even places as stunning and timeless as Notre Dame, whose artisans laid the cornerstone a hundred years before the towers were completed. Work done by workers who knew they would die long before their work was complete. Those buildings die.

Everything dies. And yet nothing is ever finished. If you’ve been to Europe and seen the old churches you know that they exist in layers. The bottom is from the 10th century, the walls from the 14th, the roof is new, only 200 years old. And they are always being rebuilt because they’re always falling down. They’re always dying.

Everything dies but we try to save what we can. We try every treatment, we spend the last dollar, we fight past hope.

Everything is falling down, but we try to preserve it, to build back, to add our own layer, to add our own wall to the project that is never finished. We pass what we love along, hand to hand, in a great chain whose links all die before the treasure ever reaches safety.

Everything dies, but a fire chaplain can run into a burning cathedral to rescue an ancient relic and the true Body of Christ.

Everything dies, but Peter can draw his sword and strike off the ear of the high priest’s slave. Everything dies, but the king’s followers--if there are enough of them, if they have the heart for it--can storm the palace and rescue the imprisoned king.

St. Augustine, writing sixteen centuries ago about the Roman Empire, said that in the beginning the gods protected the city of Rome, but in the end the city was protecting the gods. He meant this as a criticism. It refuted pagan religion, which worshiped gods precisely because they had the power to protect their city.

But there’s something beautiful about it, too. What kind of a person would not rush into a burning building to save the body of his savior? Who would Peter have been if he had not drawn his sword in defense of his friend, even when the odds were hopeless? Who would we be if we did not risk ourselves to save that thing that can never be saved: the life of another? Who would we be if we did not strive to add our part to the work that is never finished?

That’s what it means to be human. If we’re good at it, we’ll protect what we love, even if it is hopeless to do so. We will strive to finish the work that can never be finished.

This is the day that Jesus died. The people who loved him tried to prevent it, or fled, or denied him to save themselves and suffered for it. But it was all no use. He was captured, put on trial, beaten, mocked, made up with a crown of torture and a robe of ridicule. He was hung on a piece of wood until he asphyxiated.

And yet in the midst of friends who tried and failed to love him as humans love, in the midst of enemies who cursed and abused him as humans do, Jesus is the one offering protection. Jesus gives his blessed mother to the care of his disciple. Jesus looks on Peter with grief and love. Jesus does not answer the taunts and the violence. Jesu would rather suffer all things, bear every taunt and curse, absorb every blow than harm the hair on one human head. Jesus does not need to be protected. He needs no vengeful army of followers and no host of angels. Jesus is the one who protects until the end.

And in the midst of a world whose work is never complete, where nothing made by human hands is ever finished, Jesus finishes the work of salvation. “It is finished,” he says, and dies. No one else will ever suffer to fulfill God’s righteousness. No one else will ever die to redeem humanity. No one will ever add one jewel to his crown. Time breaks down every wall and we build back what we love. But salvation is finished forever.

In the days after the fire, it turned out that the chaplain, Father Fournier, had not merely rescued the sacrament. He had held up the Body of Christ, and in the custom of the Roman Church, said the benediction over the five hundred firefighters and the burning cathedral. Jesus blessed and protected them even as the building burned.

In the end, we do not protect Jesus. He protects us. In flame and destruction, he would rather be consumed than lose any of his own. In this world where everything dies and nothing lasts and nothing is ever finished, only the crown of thorns can be the royal crown of triumph. Only the lost and abandoned Savior can rescue his city. Only the one who stands amid flame and death can shed his grace on all who draw near. And only the work of divine love can ever be finished.

Amen.

IMMERSION TRIP TO MEXICO

3/22/2022

Learn about the migrant experience through an immersion trip this June!

Our friends at St Luke's Lutheran Church at Richardson have a small group interested. This program could be a great experience learning together and building friendships with people of a different congregation.

The deadline for commitment to attend is due by April 7, 2022.

Please read the details below!

Global Mission Team

We plan an immersion trip to El Paso to learn about the migrant experience from June 7-13, 2022. We are partnering with Iglesia Luterana Cristo Rey for this opportunity to learn and to serve. Participants will meet recent immigrants and would-be immigrants, visit a colonia (rural settlements), see people in court seeking to immigrate, and assist the Border Servant Team. We will worship together, eat together, pray together and serve together. We can join worship with the congregation on Sunday, June 12. We stay in a dorm at the church, prepare some of our food, and have some prepared for us that we pay church members to cook. Those with health conditions can stay at a nearby hotel at their own expense. There will also be a possibility for an optional overnight visit to Ciudad Juarez on the Mexican side. Passports to go to Mexico are necessary and COVID vaccinations for all participants coming to Iglesia Luterana Cristo Rey.

This partnership will benefit.

Refugees in Ciudad Juarez and El Paso will receive food, clothing, and social services.
The workload will be lightened for the program staff at Border Servant Program at Cristo Rey by the volunteers who will cook and distribute food, distribute clothing, and provide spiritual support.
The volunteers will be transformed by the experience and gain insight into the plight of the immigrants.
Our church will be better able to serve immigrants in our community in a spirit of accompaniment.

We have room to accommodate more people (age 15+) on this trip.
For more information, visit the websites below.
Read more about Iglesia Luterana Cristo Rey
Read about the Border Immersion Program
Read more details here.

We are grateful you are prayerfully considering joining us. We ask for your commitment to attend by April 7, 2022--two months before departure--for planning purposes.

For more details about costs and other questions, please reach out to Vicar Veronika:
Email: vczutor@clcdallas.org
Cell: 972-904-0245

DONATE THIS LENT TO TRANSCARPATIA, UKRAINE!

3/18/2022

Civilians fleeing the violence are heading toward Ukraine’s western regions, such as Transcarpatia, which is one of the poorest regions of Ukraine. The pandemic and the war are causing extraordinary hardships in these communities as they try to attend to hundreds of thousands of people seeking refuge, shelter, necessities, and pastoral care.

We invite you to join our Lent donation collection, where we will support Transcarpatia Second Chance Foundation in Zabszony. This small Baptist Community in Ukraine is reaching out to create a community in God and help all children of God regardless of the language they speak or their denomination.

Your gifts, designated for “Help Transcarpatia,” will be used entirely (100%) to provide support for people in the region.

We collect all gifts at Christ Lutheran Church, and we are going to send it to our siblings at Transcarpatia Second Chance Foundation at the end of Lent as one donation. This way, they will have to deal with the money exchange only once.

Use the "Help Transcarpatia" row.

WHAT IS LENT FOR?

3/11/2022

"Procession of Jesus of Great Power and Sorrow," Independence Plaza, Granada, Nicarauga. Photo by Chopitano, shared under a CC BY 3.0 license (via Wikipedia)

Lent is here, that season of... something or other leading up to the great Three Days (Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Vigil) and the festival season of the Resurrection of Our Lord. And every year, as we reach this moment, churches and their staffs have to make choices about what to emphasize, what mood to cultivate, which practices to encourage and model. There are a few popular options:

Lent is for penitence or, more generally, feeling sorta bad about yourself. This is a popular option, and it’s one I’ve spent a lot of time on myself. We do kick things off, after all, with the ominous phrase “remember you are dust and to dust you shall return,” and the anguished Psalm 51. The hymns are usually minor key, and they stress themes of repentance and so forth. This is not wrong, and it’s not bad. Our culture combines an emphasis on extravagantly happy self-talk--we are all told that we are special and wonderful and can do anything--with the reality of severe insecurity in our jobs, our relationships, and the feelings about ourselves reflected in social media, to name just a few. I suspect this makes us, on average, more confused and unhappy than we might otherwise be. If, in church, we spend some extra time “worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness” as the old prayer for Ash Wednesday says, it may actually help us be more clear about what in our lives needs to change and what is not actually a sin.

But this is hard to do well and clearly. Penitence is good but feeling sorta bad about ourselves is not. Astringent language of sin and repentance is good, but a general mood of gloom and inadequacy is not. Our God is a jealous God, but not a demanding boss, a fickle lover, or an indifferent Instagram following. So one person in our denomination, then an editor of our magazine, described Lent as a season to “experience the flow of God’s love.” I don’t know what that means, so I’ve never tried it.

So if gloomy Lent or cheery Lent is not what it’s about, maybe Lent is for Christian instruction and initiation. This is probably closer to the original purpose of the season before Easter, back when baptisms typically took place at the Easter Vigil and a lengthy period of preparation reached its peak in the weeks leading up to it. For years, I’ve tried to recapture this spirit by putting new member, baptism, and adult confirmation classes during Lent and inviting the rest of the congregation to share in the lessons. We’re doing that with the Christian Basics class starting March 13 at 10 AM this year. It’s a good opportunity to revisit the heart of our faith and journey with those coming into the church or becoming a part of it in a new way. And we’ll probably spend some time in our Sunday preaching on returning to our confession of faith and what it means.

But there has to be more to Lent than learning. After all, we begin on Ash Wednesday with Jesus’s words about fasting, praying, and giving alms. In keeping with his instructions, Lent can also serve as a time to build up our spiritual practices. It’s a good time to recommit to daily prayer if we’ve gotten out of the habit, to scrutinize our practices of generosity, and to think about the things we can and perhaps should give up for the sake of a closer walk with God (I want to be clear here that you can’t “fast” from a sin; fasting is only for things that are fine in themselves, but that can become a problem or a barrier for us. For actual sins, see the second paragraph above). There’s no wrong time to do these things and no time better than any other. But this is a time to do it together and draw strength from our shared commitments.

Put it all together, and I’d sum up the purpose for Lent as prioritizing our faith. It was just a couple of weeks into Lent when everything changed in 2020, and since then, even as our and everyone else’s activities have returned, our habits and lives have changed. It’s an excellent time to assess whether we can worship more regularly, offer something of ourselves (in worship, music, or ministry) that we have gotten out of the habit of giving, or simply return to God more often in prayer.

All of this has always been available to us, but God provides some moments for us to seize. Whatever your faith needs from Lent this year, please don’t let it go to waste.
See you in church!
Pastor Ben

Photos used under Creative Commons from ralpe, cookbookman17, gruntzooki, Grey World, Sjoerd_Lammers