ALC Newsletter. American Lutheran Church LCMC. DECEMBER 2018 Pastor Bill Bakewicz. Pastor Bill

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1 American Lutheran Church LCMC TH St SE Long Prairie, MN americanlutheranchurchlp@gmail.com americanlutheranchurch.org In this Issue: Pastor Bill From the Pastor Advent Schedule Christmas Eve Services Christmas Day Service Children s Christmas Program Service Meals, Mugs & Mittens Youth & Family Upcoming Events Cornerstone Pines Event Mission Trip Mission Reports Kidstown International Chris Mikkelson Christmas Cantata Concert Operation Christmas Child Shoeboxes Regular Features Service Group Birthdays and Anniversaries ALC Newsletter DECEMBER 2018 Pastor Bill Bakewicz A Place to Come Home To From the Pastor. The great story of Jesus birth is reflected in the words of John 3:16, For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life. For many people Christmas is a joyful time because it is a time for gift giving and gift receiving. It is a time of happiness and good will. It is a time for decorating and baking, shopping and wrapping, eating and drinking, visiting and being visited. And, for many people, Christmas is nothing more than that. The celebration of Christmas will only be all that it can be for you if you remember to focus on the reason for Jesus birth. and that is your need of a Savior. God tells us in His Word that all have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23), and that the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). Left to ourselves, we perish. Death is the end and there is no hope of eternal life. The One Who created us does for us what we cannot do for ourselves. He sends His Son into the world to remove our sins from us (I John 1:7), to pay the penalty for our sin, to die on our behalf (Romans 5:8), and to rise from the dead so that we might live forever and have eternal life (I Corinthians 15:22). All of this God does for us because He loves us. All of this God does for you because He loves you. If you were the only person alive on the face of the earth there would still be a Christmas, a Good Friday and an Easter. God loves you so much that He doesn t want YOU to perish. And so He sends His Son into the world to be born, to die and to rise from the dead so that you might not die, might not perish, but have everlasting life. The baby Who is born in Bethlehem for you is the same One Who dies on the cross and rises from the dead for you. He is truly the greatest gift you could ever receive! So as you buy or make the gifts you will give, and as you receive the gifts that others have purchased or made for you, think of Jesus the greatest gift of all remember to come and worship Him and thank God for His birth. As you visit and eat and drink and enjoy the season to be jolly, think of Jesus Calendar

2 From the Pastor (Continued) Our Church Family Celebrates The Birth of our Savior Sunday, Dec. 16 th at 9:00 a.m. Together with our Sunday School children we tell the story of Jesus birth. and the joy that He brings to you because He is YOUR Savior. Remember God loves you so much that He gave His only begotten Son, and as you believe in Him you will not perish but have everlasting life. Sincerely, Pastor Bill Christmas Eve Candlelight Worship Services with Communion 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. Christmas Day Worship Service with Communion 10:30 a.m. Free Community Meal Christmas Day at 12:30 p.m.

3 Coming Up: High5 / Youth & Family December 5 & 12: High5 Kids Nights 4:15 Made to Worship 6:00 Made to Serve December 16 th : Sunday School Christmas Program during the 9:00 worship service Looking ahead.. MEGA FUN! January 4-5, Camp Lebanon Youth in grades 3-6 Registration cost: $38 Priority registration by Nov 10 th Let Kari Christians know if you are interested! Friends welcome! How s life? Want to talk about it? Feel free to contact me.. Kari Christians (320) karichristians@yahoo.com Cornerstone Pines Event November 3, :00-5:00pm Youth in grades 3-6 Come out to Cornerstone Pines and help decorate for Christmas! Kids in grades 3-6 are invited to come and enjoy an afternoon of decorating trees for the upcoming Christmas season. The kids will also be able to craft something special to bring home! All supplies will be provided, smores and cocoa too! Please sign up on the Youth and Family board! Mission Trip! Now open to current 7-12 th graders! The dates have been chosen Our 2019 summer mission trip will be July 28-Aug 3! The location? STAY TUNED! Forms are located on the Youth and Family Board; sign up by November 18 th with your $50 deposit to secure your spot!

4 Advent Schedule

5 December Mission Focus Page 1

6 December Mission Focus Page 2

7 December Mission Focus Page 3

8 Community Christmas Cantata

9 Operation Christmas Child Shoebox Wrapping up OCC Shoeboxes 2018 Operation Christmas Child Shoebox Project 2018 is a WRAP! ~ The dedication, perseverance and generosity of YOU, your families and your friends sent 445+Shoeboxes from ALC ~ Your willingness to SERVE sent nearly 800 Shoeboxes from our area to be shared with children throughout the world I would like to be able to keep a diary of every penny that goes into the noisy offering, of every set of color crayons dropped in the collection box, of every pair of flipflops, socks, tshirt, pencil, sharpener, stuffie donated! Would that give you a more complete picture of how amazing this accomplishment is? However, since we cannot name every donor, every worker and every gift, I m praying the following list will tell you what YOU did do was noticed & made a difference: ~ Did you give a Matchbox Car or were you our big, white delivery truck? ~ Did you pack one shoebox or many shoeboxes into 58 cases? ~ Did you bring one bar of soap/make homemade soap or bring a case of soap or crochet MANY colorful washclothes ~ Did you give one precious baby doll or 150 stuffies? ~ Did you drop a nickel in the noisy offering or write a check for $$$? ~ Did you go down the church aisle as Boxie or make disc necklaces? ~ Did you sew liners for plastic shoeboxes, blankets for baby dolls, hundreds of pencil pouches or even pouches for blackboard/chalk/car sets? ~ 1600 pencils,900 pens,400 erasers,400 sharpeners,300 scissors,tablets,notebooks, colored pencils, markers, books, 400 toothbrushes, combs, hairbrushes How many of these did you provide? ~ 800 or more tshirts/flipflops/hats/socks/shorts/gloves/skirts ~ Did you wrap boxes, remove space-stealing wrapping from 100 s of items, organize pencil packs or chalk packs, sort & pair clothing items? ~ Were you the donor of boys tools or many craft packs you created ~ Were you youth who spent nearly a whole day off from school doing 100 s of tasks to prepare for packing, thereby saving the old ladies hundreds of steps? Or entire families who diligently filled boxes with lightning speed? Or 80+year olds who proved you are NEVER TOO OLD to share love? ~ Did your non-alc friends & family help demonstrate the universal, all-encompassing LOVE of God by joining us in fulfilling this project? PLEASE be sure they know how much we appreciated and enjoyed their fellowship! MAY THIS PARTIAL LIST MAKE YOU SLIGHTLY aware of the importance of every single gift, action and minute you gave. Without a doubt, 2018 WAS the most AWESOME ALC YEAR for OCC Shoeboxes! CAN 2019 BE EVEN GREATER? WE PRAY THAT SHALL BE (after a couple months of Shoebox SILENCE! )

10 Service Group 6 November - December Service Group Responsibilities: Serve for funerals on a rotating basis every 7 th Funeral. Serve for special events occurring during the two month period. Group 6 Leaders: Gary & Betty Martin Larry & Bonnie Alsleben Group 6 Members: Atkinson, Dave & Julie Bruder, Al & Melinda Durheim Delvin & Deb Ellingson, Dale & Sue Ellingson, Mark & Jody Guse, Linda & Dols, Kimberly Hedlund, Jammie (Cell) (Home) Jacobsen, Russ & Jean Kraska, Nick & Toni Kruse, Kolby & Megan Kruzel, Robert & Lynn Marcyes, Heather. (Cell) (Home) Mentele, Linda Parker, Jason & Amanda Poegel,Tom & Peggy Prill, John & Sue Schultes, Dean & Julie Steinert, Jason & Lisa Thompson, Carole

11 Happy Birthday 3 rd Olivia Christians 3 rd Sandy Westerberg 4 th Donovan Hanson 4 th Marlyne Klinder 5 th Larry Alsleben 6 th Bonnie Alsleben 7 th Kolby Kruse 7 th Sandy Towle 9 th Joan Faust 9 th Emma Lubbers 9 th Helen Monson 11 th Allison Simon 12 th Joni Young 13 th Blake Schultz 18 th JoAnn Manlove 19 th Lynn Kruzel 20 th Bob Fox 22 nd Kermit Goldenstein 24 th Sue Prill 26 th Phyllis Winters 30 th Austin Evenson 31 st Gavin Hasse December Happy Anniversary 4 th Kolby & Megan Kruse 6 th Stan & Dorothy Hortness 11 th Gary & Pam Schneekloth 12 th Mark & Jen Meagher 18 th Marvin & Laurie Poegel

12 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat ALC CALENDAR DECEMBER :00am Praise Team Practice 7:00pm Sarah Circle's 9:00am Staff Meeting 3:30pm 9th Grade Confirmation 5:30pm 8:30am Choir Practice 9:00am Advent Worship Service 10:00am Music Ministry at Valley View 7:00pm Trustees Class 4:15pm Made to Worship High5 Kids Grades K-6 5:30pm Family Night Worship Team Practice with Communion - "Leaving the Initiative with God" 10:15am Sunday School with Christmas Program Practice 11:15am Board of Education Meeting 1:00pm Community Choir Practice at Nursing Home Meeting Supper 6:00pm Praise Team Practice 6:00pm Made to Serve High5 Kids Grades K-6 6:00pm 8th Grade Confirmation Class 7:00pm Choir Practice 8:00pm Deacons Meeting :00am Advent Worship Service - "Patience - The Key to Success" 10:15am Sunday School with Christmas Program Practice 11:15am Missions Committee Meeting 4:00pm Community Choir Practice 6:45pm Sarah Circle's at Valley View 9:00am Staff Meeting 10:00am Music Ministry at Valley View 9:30am Chapel at Nursing Home 10:15am Chapel at Assisted Living 10:00am Audio-Visual Team Meeting 3:30pm 9th Grade Confirmation Class 4:15pm Made to Worship High5 Kids Grades K-6 5:30pm Family Night Supper 6:00pm 8th Grade Confirmation Class 6:00pm Praise Team Practice 6:00pm Made to Serve High5 Kids Grades K-6 7:00pm Choir Practice 8:00pm Church Council Meeting :00am Sunday School 9:00am Staff Meeting 9:30am Esther Circle 5:30pm Christmas Program Worship Service - "The Birth of our Savior" 10:00am Music Ministry at Valley View 11:00am Newsletter Articles Due 11:00am Newsletter Articles Due 3:30pm 9th Grade Confirmation Class 5:30pm Family Night Supper 6:00pm Praise Team Practice 6:00pm 8th Grade Confirmation Class 7:00pm Choir Practice Worship Team Practice :00am Worship Team Practice 9:00am Advent Worship Service with Communion - "How to Cultivate 3:30pm Choir Practice 4:00pm Christmas Eve Candlelight Service with 10:30am Christmas Day Worship Service with Communion 5:30pm Worship Team Practice Patience" Communion 12:30pm Meals, No Sunday School and Choir Mugs & Mittens 6:00pm Christmas Eve Free Community Supper Candlelight Service with Communion 2:00pm Christmas Cantata Choir Concert at LPGE HS Auditorium :00am Worship Service with Communion No Sunday School p