Join us for worship on Christmas Eve, Tuesday, December 24, at 7:00 pm as we celebrate the birth of Christ. Our worship will include Christmas Carols, Communion and candlelight.

Dear Beloveds,

This is but the beginning of the birth pangs … Mark 13:8

There are a lot of stories about women and pregnancy and motherhood in the Bible. To list some of these women off the top of my head, and in no particular order: Hannah, Sarah, Elizabeth, Mary, Eve, Hagar, Rebekah, Jochebed, Rachel, Tamar, Bathsheba, Ruth, and all those unnamed women - Manoah’s wife, the Shunammite woman, the widow of Zarephath, and more, I’m sure.

Happy New Year! Or maybe it would be better to say: Happy New Church Year! The liturgical church year begins with the season of Advent, which this year begins on December 1.  The season of Advent is about anticipating and preparing for the coming of Christ, the light of the world.  Each of the four weeks of Advent, we will light another  candle on the Advent Wreath. The growing brightness symbolizes the coming of Christ’s light into our darkness.  Advent comes to an end on Christmas Eve, leading us into the joyful season of Christmas.

December 1:  Jeremiah 33:14-16 & Luke 21:25-36

December 8: Hanging of the Greens Luke 3:1-6

December 15: Zephaniah 3:15b-20 & Luke 3:7-20

December 22: Micah 5:2-5a & Luke 1:39-55

December 24 Christmas Eve (7pm):  Isaiah 9:2-3a, 6-7 & Luke 2:1-20

December 29: Luke 2:1-7 & Luke 2:8-16 & John 1:1-5, 14-18

Christmas is a time for giving. No doubt many of us have begun purchasing Christmas presents for our loved ones. As you think about what to give, here is a suggestion for a different kind of gift. ELCA Good Gifts offers a meaningful way to honor friends and family with Christmas gifts that make a difference in the world. You can choose from more than 50 gift-giving options, each with the ability to make real, lasting change in the life of someone in need.

For example, for $10 you can buy chicks. When chicks grow up to become chickens, their eggs not only provide an ongoing supply of protein-rich meals — they can also help start a small business and generate a steady source of income. Or how about $50 for a goat. Goats can go where other animals can’t, surviving in some of the world’s most challenging terrain. Goat's milk provides nutrition for children and their families, and goats are quick to reproduce — which means a family can pass this life-saving gift onto others.

CLICK HERE  to go to the ELCA Good Gifts Catalog and see what gifts you could give to make a difference in someone’s life. 

Each Sunday evening the homeless, the under-resourced, or the just plain hungry gather in our Fellowship Hall for a free meal. Our congregation hosts Sunday Suppers on the 2nd and 4th Sundays of the month, volunteers from other local churches host on the 1st and 3rd Sundays. Between 60-120 people on average are served each Sunday. You can help support this vital ministry with financial donations or by helping serve the meals.  

The quilters here at Central Lutheran Church make quilts for people around the world, through Lutheran World Relief.  Click below for more information on how you can help.  

We use YouTube to live stream and record our worship services.  In each weekly Worship Invitation email, we include a link  to that Sunday's worship service.  Past worship services can be viewed by going to our YouTube page by searching for "Central Lutheran Church Everett Washington" or by CLICKING HERE.

We are working to get recordings of our worship services on our website. 

“Unlike the names of Edison, Beethoven, and Carnegie, the name of Hetty Green is not known to most people. During her life she was, however, the richest woman in the world. Although she was wealthy, many would say the sick and homeless of her day were far richer. Because of her all-consuming desire for wealth, her name is virtually forgotten. Hetty Green is listed in a Guiness Book of World Records as “the greatest miser.” She kept a balance of $31 million in one bank. When she died she left an estate of $95 million. Her consuming desire for wealth caused her to spend very little. She lived on cold oatmeal so she wouldn’t have to pay for heat. Her son was forced to have his leg amputated because she refused to pay for an operation. And when she died in 1916, it was caused by apoplexy during an argument over the virtues of skim milk.

“…Hetty Green…was certainly rich, yet she was impoverished by her attitude, values, and lack of concern for others. “Like Hetty Green, you can be poor and rich at the same time, depending on how you are living and giving.” [Dear Lord, They Want Me To Give The Devotions, John D. Schroeder and Shane Groth]

Our offerings for God’s work help us to keep our bank account perspective balanced with our life accounts, which matter far more.

Finance Update through October, 2024

Beginning Balance           8,126
Monthly Expenses       (18,537)
Monthly Income             16,940
Income (Deficit)                 6,529

CLICK HERE to make a financial donation to Central Lutheran Church.

 Happy Birthday to those celebrating December birthdays!  

Beth Kendall, December 4

Marilyn French, December 7

Pamela Gleave, December 14

Kristi Lee, December 19

Sue Brockway, December 20

Mary Beck, December 23

Happy Anniversary to those celebrating December anniversaries! 

Gene & Jean Lilley, December 15

Peter & Laurie VanderWeyst, December 26

Dave & Peggy Kurtz, December 28

Central Lutheran Church Office Hours are:

Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm. 

Pastor Jim works in the office Tuesday through Friday, times vary.