Friends of Immanuel, 

With the southern California fires continuing to dominate the headlines and the horrific devastation they are causing, here are a couple of ways that you can support the relief efforts to those impacted by these fires, utilizing Lutheran and Christian-based support.  

I share this information from our church body in an article from last Thursday, January 9th: “The Rev. Mike Gibson, president of the Pacific Southwest District of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS), is closely monitoring the situation. He reports that 10 members of Palisades Lutheran have had their homes destroyed, including the retired emeritus pastor. Among other LCMS churches in the areas threatened by fire, a number of members have had to evacuate and at least one other family has lost their home. Some students at Pacifica Christian High School, affiliated with Pilgrim Lutheran Church in Santa Monica, have also lost their homes. Many LCMS congregation members have had to secure alternative housing due to the evacuations, and at least one of the affected congregations is planning to hold services online this weekend due to the evacuations.” 

This link will take you to the Pacific Southwest District website page where you can find the latest updates as well as several ways you can help, donate, and pray: https://www.psd-lcms.org/disaster-response 

In addition, here are several other ways to help: 

• Lutheran Church Charities – https://www.lutheranchurchcharities.org/disasterresponse-deployment-californiawildfires.html 

• Lutheran World Relief – https://lwr.org/blog/2025/california-wildfires-you-can-rush-aid 

• Prayer is always a way to support and help – prayers for these relief efforts to bring help and hope, for those who have lost loved ones, for the many who have been evacuated, for those who have lost homes and vehicles and material goods and businesses, and for those trying to fight these fires.

Serving together in Christ alone! 

Pastor Glen 

Friends of Immanuel,
Massively destructive wildfires raging in LA, mysterious drones flying over the east coast, the tragedy in New Orleans and the bomb in Las Vegas on New Years, political maneuvering with issues of support of wars waging around the world, pardons and “future” pardons, immigration, borders, and the wall, and all that a transition in power entails – wow. And in the meantime, so many of us right here who are connected to Immanuel are dealing with serious health and medical-related issues, death of family, friends, and loved ones, financial uncertainties and concerns, and “the blues” hitting with this January cold streak and unusually dark and dreary days. The “deep/thick darkness” that the Lord talked about through the prophet Isaiah (60:1-2) 2700 years ago seems pretty real in the here-and-now, doesn’t it?!

In the face of all this darkness, let me remind you – “Be strong and very courageous… Don’t be afraid; don’t be discouraged, for the Lord you God will be with you wherever you go!” (Joshua 1:7, 9) I heard an interesting observation on a podcast I was listening to this morning. When it comes to the commands the Lord gives us, just because He tells us or commands us to do or not to do something, it doesn’t mean that we can actually do it or not do it, whatever the case may be. Even these commands the Lord gave to Joshua and to us, while they are certainly things we want and strive for, it doesn’t mean that we’re able to be strong and courageous, or not be afraid or discouraged. Hearing this from the Lord reminds us of our ineptitude but even more so, it reminds us of God’s love, God’s strength, and God’s power in our world and in our lives.

In these days, more and more as we see the “deep/thick darkness,” we need to lean into the strong, loving arms of our Savior. His victory over the darkness is our victory. He radiates His light into every darkness in which we find ourselves and He chases the darkness away – the darkness cannot and will not overcome Jesus and His light! Because of that, we can hear these commands of our Lord in a slightly different way. Because of Jesus, we don’t have to be afraid; we don’t have to be discouraged. We have a God who has done everything for us and who loves us more than we can ever imagine.

We, in turn, have the opportunity to radiate His light as well. There are so many in our world who also are living in and experiencing real darkness, but they don’t know where to turn or what to do; they don’t know Jesus. Let’s walk alongside each other, let’s walk with those who don’t know what to do, and let’s shine Jesus and the light He has brought into our world. The hope we have is real – a hope that is needed more than ever these days!

Take this from the Lord in Isaiah 60, and I paraphrase a bit: “Arise! Shine! For your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you… Don’t stare down at your shoelaces – instead, lift up your eyes and look around you… Look and be radiant, let your heart throb and swell with joy because of the Lord!” Jesus is here – we’re not alone! Let His light keep shining in and through each of us!

Serving together in Christ alone!
Pastor Glen

Friends of Immanuel,

A blessed Epiphany to you all! Today, January 6th, is the official day we celebrate the Epiphany, which includes the coming of the Magi/Wise Men to see Jesus, and Isaiah’s call for us to “Arise! Shine!” because our Light has come. It’s a day we celebrate as an explosion of Light and Love from our Lord to people of all nations, colors, and languages!

As we looked at the coming of the Magi/Wise Men to see Jesus in yesterday’s message, their following the star to find Him really epitomizes this year’s Epiphany series, Radiate! Jesus is Light; we’re invited and urged to follow His light as it radiates in our hearts and lives, drawing us to life and hope and all that Jesus has come to bring. Then we, in turn, are invited to “Arise! Shine!” so others can see His light in and through us in our words and actions.

All of this is not just about making New Years resolutions or doing better. As I wrapped up yesterday’s message, we have to remember our grounding – standing firmly on Jesus in all times; in the good times and especially when it comes to how dark the darkness in our lives or our world may get. This darkness cannot and will not overcome the Light of Jesus – don’t forget that powerful Truth! These are times that are critical for us to keep growing in our faith. And how can we do that? Some of the most straight-forward ways to keep growing include:

• Being in God’s Word regularly – including Bible studies, small groups, and personal or family daily devotion time;

• Spending time every day in prayer – if you want to receive the daily prayer requests I send out, just let me know;

• Worshiping every week

With regard to being in God’s Word, this year I’m not going to read through the Bible in a year as I have over the past three years. Instead, I discovered an interesting resource through www.1517.org entitled, “40 Minutes in the Old Testament.” This podcast started back in 2015 with Genesis 1 and now has about 450 episodes, currently exploring the book of Isaiah. I decided to head back to Genesis and those first episodes where I’m reading the chapter(s) of the Bible being discussed and then listening to this deep dive into some of the fascinating nuances of the Old Testament. Dr. Chad Bird leads these teachings, making powerful connections with the New Testament and Jesus. It is a solid and distinctly Lutheran look into God’s Word and is for anyone who’s interested in a more thought-provoking study into God’s Word.

For those who do want to read through the Bible in a year, here are a couple of resources that I can recommend:

• “The Bible in One Year with Chad Bird” is another solidly Lutheran way to read through the Bible. You have to read each days Scriptures (from both the Old and New Testaments) on your own and then Dr. Chad Bird provides a brief, 2-minute YouTube video that highlights something from the readings. Also provided are additional resources you can look up in order to go deeper into that day’s readings. https://www.1517.org/oneyear

• “The Daily Audio Bible” available through podcast or on the Bible Gateway app: https://www.biblegateway.com/reading-plans/daily-audio-bible/2025/01/01?version=NIV

• In past years I’ve also recommended “The Bible in a Year” podcast with Father Mike Schmitz, a Roman Catholic priest. The caveat I will give again is that Father Mike will raise various Roman Catholic beliefs, teachings, and doctrines with which we as Lutherans do not agree. You will also hear readings through the year from the Apocrypha, which we as Protestant Christians do not believe are part of God’s Word. So your listening to this podcast will require you to have a discerning ear!

As we look to Radiate! our Savior’s light and love, I pray that each of us will experience the blessings of what that can mean in our day-to-day lives! Here is this week’s What Now? for you to consider as we step into the week together:

What Now?

Follow the star! Spend time each day in God’s Word to let Him shine His light into whatever darkness you may be facing. And let His light in you radiate to others as you share His love and the hope Jesus brings.

Serving together in Christ alone!

Pastor Glen

Friends of Immanuel,

Happy New Year! I hope and pray that everyone had fun and safe celebrations and family gatherings while welcoming in 2025. Today’s update is filled with lots and lots of new ministries and opportunities to grow in your faith, to give and serve and use your gifts, and to continue following our Savior – so check all that out below.

This Sunday we will be celebrating Epiphany Sunday, a celebration of light that follows the 12 days of Christmas and has historically and traditionally been another grand celebration for Christians. The star in the east which the Magi or Wisemen followed to find this newborn King is part of the celebration of Epiphany, as well as other biblical references of light shining in the darkness. For worship we will start in candlelight as we celebrate the Light that has come to dispel the darkness!

We will also begin a new series for this season of Epiphany. The season of Epiphany shines a light on who Jesus is, revealing Him to be both human and divine, Son of Man and Son of God. This light of Epiphany not only reveals who Jesus is, but it speaks to missions and outreach to all people—Jesus is the light of the world and, as His disciples, we radiate His light to those around us. This year’s Epiphany theme, Radiate!, will look at some of the multifaceted ways that Jesus is The radiating Light of the world, as well as how His light shines in our lives and, through us, to those around us.

I look forward to Radiating our Savior’s light with all of you in the weeks to come! I hope to see you in worship!

Serving together in Christ alone!
Pastor Glen

Friends of Immanuel, 

As we get ready to flip the calendar and begin a new year, I want to start by thanking all of you for an amazing 2024! These days are great for doing both a little reflecting on the past year and looking forward to the new year. As I reflected a bit on 2024, there is way too much to capture in a few paragraphs, but let me share a few highlights for me. 

Worshiping together every week is always at the top of the list – I love gathering together with all of you to be reminded of God’s love and grace, to gather at the Lord’s Table together, and to enjoy the fellowship we have in this great community of faith here at Immanuel. To see and welcome so many new families who have come to call Immanuel home, through both regularly worshiping with us as well as officially joining our congregation, is a real joy for me.  

Other highlights were 10 baptisms, 2 weddings, and 5 young people receiving their first communion. We also commended 13 people to our Savior’s care with memorial and funeral services. 

There were the financial challenges that we faced in 2024, which are continuing to some degree into 2025, but giving thanks for the amazing response to the needs we have. I am in awe of the many generous gifts and the commitments made to raise levels of giving by so many of you. We continue to carry out the Lord’s ministry here with boldness and with faith, furthering the Kingdom and sharing His Good News at every opportunity! 

We’ve also experienced changes in staffing, including amazing blessings and sad good-byes, continued steady growth in worship attendance, so many opportunities to grow with a wide and interesting variety of Sunday morning Bible studies, Family Nights, Called Into Community mini-retreats, and a multitude of small groups, reaching out to and serving the people in our community by expressing our Savior’s Radical Hospitality in various tangible ways every month, and many of our larger outreach and service-oriented ministries which involve so many of you helping, giving, praying, and serving. Wow – what a year it has been! 

What will 2025 hold? We obviously can’t know for sure, but we continue to prayerfully plan and prepare as many opportunities as we can to share Jesus and the hope He brings to our world. I’m excited to see where the Lord is going to lead us in this new year! Thank you all for being part of this amazing community at Immanuel.  

I leave you with the What Now? from yesterday’s sermon, as we wrapped up our series on The End of Fear, focusing yesterday on the fear of failure. Just as our Lord commanded Joshua of the Old Testament, He speaks these same words to all of us today – “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go!” (Joshua 1:9) Let’s live with that confidence and that assurance as we step together into 2025! 

What Now? 

As you set your goals or make your resolutions or simply prepare to step into 2025, don’t be afraid! Take the Lord’s promises to heart – He is with you and He is for you. Give Him opportunity to speak into your fears, into your heart, and into your life every day in this new year, living confidently and fearlessly in His grace! 

Serving together in Christ alone! 

Pastor Glen 

Friends of Immanuel,
The last several updates I’ve highlighted some of the awesome ways that our Savior’s Radical Hospitality has been expressed through this Christmas season. Today, I give thanks to all who gave so generously for the Orchard Place Gift Giving Tree, expressing our Savior’s love in a very tangible way to our neighbors to the south. It took a lot – from so many of you willing to grab a tag (and many of you took multiple tags!) to purchasing gifts and basic necessities, to those who came to put everything together last Wednesday afternoon, to those who brought cookies, who helped deliver the packages, and who were part of the celebration and distribution of the gifts. A special thank you to Teresa Rost who once again led this massive project/ministry, giving a tremendous amount of time, energy, coordination, and more, to make it happen and to share some Christmas love. Thank you, Teresa, and everyone who was part of this!

I asked Teresa to share a bit more with all of us some of the joy that was shared last week. And enjoy the pictures which also capture a glimpse of this wonderful ministry!

Wow, Immanuel! Your love for Jesus shone brightly to the Orchard Place residents! We served 60 kiddos and 49 families with a multitude of gifts, Bibles, and financial support this year. The children and parents were overwhelmed when receiving their gifts at their Christmas party last Thursday evening. Thank you to everyone who purchased a gift for a child, wrapped a gift, donated money towards Bibles and Walmart gift cards, purchased items for the cookie-themed family bags, sorted gifts, delivered gifts, helped with logistics and more! All of the volunteer hours for this project can't possibly be counted. God is soooo good! Teresa

Serving together in Christ alone!
Pastor Glen

Friends of Immanuel,

In March of 2020, when we began our brief remote learning time because of Covid, students in Mrs. Grimm’s 4^th and 5^th grade class began writing letters to church members each week. The hope was that we could build community between students in our school and Immanuel Church members. In addition, Mrs. Grimm used the experience as a service-learning activity and a writing lesson activity. The feedback we received was that students really enjoyed the opportunity to write these letters, and the letters were enjoyed by the church members. In fact, some of the church members started to write back to students. The students were thrilled!

In the past few years, we have expanded the program to be a more intentional pen pal ministry where letters are reciprocated between the student and member. Students are matched up with church members who agree to write back to the students – and letters are exchanged monthly. It has been amazing to watch this program continue to evolve. Pen Pals were invited to the December Young at Heart’s Christmas program. 4^th and 5^th grade students shared a mini-Christmas program of Scripture and song. Then students and pen pals were able to connect in person and get to know each other a little better.

Mrs. Grimm has shared that the way God designs the connections between students and their pen pals is nothing short of amazing. Most of the time, the pen pal connections are a random selection of “this” student with “this” adult. Here’s the amazing part of this where God is obviously at work, with these connections and blessings discovered at last week’s Young at Heart’s Christmas program:

• There’s a 5^th grade student who ended up being matched last year with a senior adult from our congregation and both share a love of farming! The senior was a farmer for several years and the student wants to run his family’s Century Farm in Iowa when he grows up. They spent time last Friday looking up the Century Farm on Google Maps!!
• Another “random” pairing this year connected a 4^th grade student with a couple who used to babysit this student’s mom when she was young. The couple is sharing stories about this young kiddo’s mother when she was a child herself.

One last example is of a pen pal, Sandy, who has recently lost her spouse and had a hard time adjusting to life without her husband. I’d like to share the email Sandy sent Mrs. Grimm after she got home from the Christmas program:

“Hello Mrs. Grimm… this was my very first time to come to Immanuel by myself since Jim was promoted to Heaven. My kids have

brought me a few times, but I could never face it by myself. UNTIL today… so as not to disappoint a sweet little girl [her pen pal]. I could not talk myself out of making the trip… no sick dog… no bad weather… no personal illness… A beautiful bright sunny day!!!!!! So. I

accomplished another “first”… for the sake a young lady named ***. And what fun it was to visit with her. I didn’t have to wonder what we were going to talk about!!! I told her it was so fun to talk with her because we both love to laugh! It was so great. Observing the behavior of the students, it was pretty obvious they have a great deal of respect and admiration for you. May you have a blessed Christmas❤️”

Praise be to God for these wonderful intergenerational connections that He is using to bless children and older adults in some amazing ways!

Serving together in Christ alone!
Pastor Glen

Friends of Immanuel, 

There are so many celebrations of Christmas and various Christmas programs happening that it’s hard to keep up! First, this week we have our Preschool Christmas program, including the dress rehearsal on Wednesday at 9:00am and then the program itself on Thursday at 9:00am. All are welcome to come and enjoy these little ones sharing the Christmas story! 

Last Thursday we had our Kindergarten through 8th grade Christmas program and then yesterday we enjoyed an amazing Christmas Cantata from our Christmas Choir led by Kathy Schlecht, Immanuel’s Director of Worship and Music Ministries, and in-between the 8:00am and 10:30am worship services, we were treated to lots of cuteness with our Children’s Christmas program led by Miss Emma and Kathy and Elizabeth Grimm, as the children told the story of Christmas in a very fun and creative way!   

Why do we do all this? It’s not just a “cuteness” factor, nor is it to provide a musical outlet to those who are musically inclined. It’s not just about having activities to keep us busy. As with everything we do here at Immanuel, it’s because of Jesus! We’re doing all the programs, worship services, beautiful music, fellowship opportunities, decorations, caroling, and more, to help more and more people hear the life-changing news of Jesus and what His birth so long ago still means for us and for our world. With that in mind, I want to share a little bit more today about last Thursday’s K-8 Christmas program for our school ministry. 

The school Christmas program was titled, “Jesus was Born this Night.” Under the skilled direction of our music teacher, Mrs. Heidi Kenyon (pictured here), the students learned a total of 18 songs across the grades of K-8. In addition to lots of great singing, students also played Orff instruments, chimes, and bucket drums, and accompanied several songs on these instruments. One audience favorite was the Bucket Drumming that accompanied “The Little Drummer Boy.” The sanctuary was packed with families, friends, and relatives who came from California and Texas and across the state of Colorado…with many more joining in on live stream from around the country. Through all the music, the story of Jesus’ birth was central and points to the reason why and what and who we celebrat

e at Christmas!  

Families joined together in the gym for fellowship and cookies afterwards. The compliments to our directors were numerous, including, “That was the best Christmas program I’ve ever seen!” “The music was fantastic!” “The students looked and sounded marvelous!” “I’ve seen so many Christmas programs over the years but none so fine as this one!” “It was wonderful to see this Christmas program tonight!” “This was the best night ever!” “Thank You…Just…Thank You!” One grandparent sent an email that expressed a bit more. Here is some of what she shared: “As a grandparent attending this Christmas program for the first time, I was so humbled and overwhelmed by the excellence exhibited by all the children last evening. There was a sense of welcoming warmth as the program began. The excitement within the children was seen and felt. The music selections from a variety of genres were simply outstanding!! Your music teachers need to be highly commended not only for their skill set, but for their passion to bring music into the lives of children of all ages… I thanked Jesus last evening for the gifts these women have and for imprinting their gifts upon the minds and hearts of all these children; selfishly for my grandson who is a student at Immanuel. Thank you for a beautiful program that shared the wonderful message of our Savior Jesus through music. Last night was a special memory that I will carry in my heart.” 

Mrs. Kenyon and Mrs. Grimm both stated that they could not be more proud of these students and all of their hard work to learn their lines, lyrics, motions, and music. All Glory to Jesus, the newborn King whose birthday we celebrate again and again!!! 

More stories are coming of the impact our Savior is having on so many people through the ministries and people here at Immanuel. I continue to be encouraged as I hear how so many of you are creatively and boldly reaching out to your friends, neighbors, and co-workers, extending invitations, having conversations, and sharing Jesus and His love with the people in your life! 

Serving together in Christ alone! 

Pastor Glen 

Friends of Immanuel,

We have so many great opportunities here at Immanuel to not only prepare for but to celebrate Jesus and His coming into the world at Christmas.

• This evening at 6:30pm we have our Immanuel Lutheran School Christmas program with our Kindergarteners through 8^th grade sharing with music and instruments the great Good News of Jesus’ birth.
• This Sunday, December 15^th, our Christmas Choir will be sharing the message of Christmas in both our 8:00 and 10:30 worship services with their annual Christmas cantata.
• Also this Sunday, at 9:30am in between worship services, the children of our congregation will be doing their Children’s Christmas program, followed by a cookie reception.
• Next Wednesday and Thursday, December 18^th and 19^th, our preschoolers will be sharing their very cute Christmas program with us, starting at 9:00am on both days.

You are welcome to any and all of these fun, festive celebrations and times of worship!

It’s also not too early to be thinking about people you can extend invitations to join you for one or more of our Christmas Eve and Christmas Day worship services. Last Sunday we included a postcard as an insert in our worship folders. On that postcard is listed all of our Christmas worship services as well as a QR code to our website and more information about Immanuel. We’ll have those inserted in this week’s worship folders again and we have many more available at the Information Station as well as on a table in the atrium. I would strongly encourage you to take several with you to invite friends, co-workers, neighbors, or other acquaintances. A personal invitation is the most effective way to reach out to others.

Here is a poster that includes one side of that postcard, listing all the worship services and times. I’d like to highlight two of those services to give a little more clarification of what to expect. The 5:00pm Family Christmas Worship is a worship service that is geared primarily toward families with younger children. The message will include activity and movement and some hands-on take-homes for the children.

The other service I want to highlight is right after that, starting with a 6:30pm Concert of Christmas music. Immanuel is blessed with so many gifted musicians and the 30-minute concert will be pure delight as we hear vocalists and instrumentalists sharing many different genre of Christmas music. The 7:00pm worship service will also include a lot of music, all of it led by an instrumental ensemble and handbell choir. The message for this service will include seven brief reflections from members of Immanuel on various familiar Christmas prophecies and Scripture passages about the Christmas Story.

If you are looking for quiet and calm, the 30-minute Harp and Flute Concert before the 10:00pm Christmas Eve service will fit the bill! The 3:30pm, 7:00pm, and 10:00pm Christmas Eve services will all end with a candlelight ceremony and singing “Silent Night.” I’ll be preaching a sermon at 3:30pm and 10:00pm and then a different message for the Christmas Day service at 9:00am.

Be prayerful and be intentional over these next twelve days when it comes to reaching out to those you know this Christmas. I’m looking forward to celebrating our Savior’s birth with you over and over again in these coming days!

Serving together in Christ alone!
Pastor Glen