St. Peter Lutheran Church, Spokane, WA. - Visitor

EPIPHANY 6 JANUARY 2009

The Twelve Days of Christmas comes to an end with the Feast of the Epiphany. Epiphany means revealed. It is also called the day of the Three Kings for on this day we celebrate the revealing of the Messiah to the Wise Men (the nations).

On Tuesday, January 6 you are invited to gather at 5:30 pm for a spaghetti supper followed by an informal worship service with Holy Communion. The children will have the opportunity to make crowns before supper so that the “kings” and “queens” can come to see the Christ Child.

In Germany, the three kings come visiting. They write on the front doors of the houses the year and the letters CMB in chalk: 20+CMB+09. Many people think this lists the names of the kings, Casper, Melchior and Balthazar, but it really stands for the Latin phrase, Christus Mansionum Benedicat, or Christ bless this home. Their bones are said to be in the Cathedral in Cologne, Germany.

This story is recorded in Matthew 2:1-12. How many wise men came to see the baby Jesus? See bottom of page *…. the answer may surprise you.

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PASTOR BETTY IS ON MYSPACE

For those of you who would like to communicate with Pastor Betty through MySpace, you can find her on her space: Pugmom. The e-mail address is Pugmom@spocom.com.

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Christmas Family News…..THANK YOU!

Thanks to everyone who contributed to make Christmas a bright time for our Christmas families. Every year, the generosity of the people at St. Peter is overwhelming. God bless you all!

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*ANSWER TO EPIPHANY QUESTION: How many wise men came to visit the baby Jesus?

Matthew doesn’t tell us. He simply says there were three gifts. Later tradition links each gift to a man and gives them the names Caspar (or Gaspar), Melchior and Balthazar. Matthew calls them magoi. That could mean they were astrologers or priests, but it wasn’t until many centuries later that they became associated with being kings.

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