Lord of Life Lutheran Church ELCA. Lifelines. The monthly newsletter for

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1 Lord of Life Lutheran Church ELCA Lifelines The monthly newsletter for December 2018

2 Please join us for our Christmas Eve Candlelight Services on Monday, December 24th at 2:00 and 5:00 p.m. Calling All Kids With Musical Abilities! We are putting together our Christmas Program and looking for kids who would like to participate. If you have a child or grandchild that plays an instrument and would like to be in the program please contact Janyce at or her at jluebke78@yahoo.com 2

3 God s Incredulous Love The thought that God, the Creator of everything that exists would choose to enter the world by being born as a human being as a baby in a shelter for animals is unimaginable. And to think that there is a being, a power, beyond definition that is responsible for our existence and the existence of all things and to think that such a being would care about us such tiny specks in the scope of the entire universe, is beyond human understanding. What could possibly make humankind so important to such a being, whom we can only address as God? We live in magnificent universe. Look at the sky on a clear evening. Isn t the solar system spectacular? Who cannot help but feel tiny and insignificant when looking up and seeing all those stars in our solar system? It s amazing! Do you know that it would take 60,000 years to reach the second closest star in our solar system if we were to travel at the speed of light? Light travels 5 trillion, 880 billion miles in a year, so multiple that number by 60,000 and it s impossible to comprehend. And in order to travel to the closest galaxy to our Milky Way galaxy, which is JUST 13 quintillion miles, traveling at the speed of light it would take you a MERE 150 billion light years to reach. Doesn t that baffle your mind? And yet all of that was brought into being by a Word from God. How absurd that anyone would say this wondrous universe happened by mere chance and that human life is just an accident. The fact that God loves each and every one us beyond measure, and beyond our ability to comprehend is incredulous. And that s what we should remember in these four weeks of Advent and as we celebrate our Savior s birth. Pastor Bruce 3

4 Lord of Life Council Meeting Minutes Sunday, November 11, 2018 Minutes to be approved at the next Council Meeting. Present: Betty Woodden, Laurie Lepel, Dennis Green, Max Morse, Carla Jakeway, Roger Soucy, Donita Nelson, Vicky Radke-Williams, Joe Hauge, Pastor Bruce Meeting called to order by President Betty Woodden at 11:05 a.m. Treasurer s Report: Joe presented the proposed budget for 2019 which will be discussed at the Annual meeting scheduled for Sunday, November 18 th. Secretary s Report: The minutes for the October 2018 council meeting were reviewed and approved following a motion by Vicky and a second by Donita. Pastor s Report: Bruce said that he has been making visitations and he has also been working on the Christmas Eve service. President s Report: Betty reported that Christmas Eve services with communion will be at 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. on Monday, December 24 th. Betty reported that she had been approached by a congregation member requesting that 5 th Sunday donations be put towards new playground equipment as the wooden playground structure has begun to deteriorate and is producing splinters. 5 th Sunday donations currently go into the general fund. Committee Reports Altar Guild: Betty said that there was nothing to report. Fellowship: There will be a committee meeting on Sunday, Nov. 25 th. Education/Youth: Nothing to report. Property: There was discussion about diverting Fall Festival funds from the Youth building sign project, currently on hold until spring, to new playground equipment. 4

5 Old Business: Betty reported that the neighbors of the Wehrle s will continue to do snow removal this winter. Betty said that Vicky, Carla and Laurie have agreed to run for an additional 2 year council term. Chris Pranger has volunteered to serve on the church council and will be nominated at the Annual meeting to replace Donita, who has chosen not to run for another term. New Business: There was discussion about decreasing the church s annual benevolence giving from $ to $ The proposal will be discussed and voted on at the Annual meeting. The next scheduled council meeting will be held Sunday, January 13 th, following the service. The meeting was adjourned at 11:20 a.m. following a motion by Vicky and a second by Laurie. Respectfully submitted by: Roger Soucy, Secretary Our 2019 Church Council Back Row: Max Morse, Pastor Bruce Baum, Church Treasurer-Joe Hauge, and Roger Soucy Front Row: Dennis Green, Carla Jakeway, Vicky Radke-Williams, Laurie Lepel, Chris Pranger, and Betty Woodden 5

6 Mission of the Month For the month of December, it's "Clean out your Pantry" month. All donations will go to the Church Response Food Pantry. Please bring non-perishable food (that means boxed or canned goods, no glass) to church by Sunday December 30th. Please, no expired goods. Personal Care Kits Ministry Please remember to donate the following items for this ongoing ministry sponsored by Lutheran World Relief. Dark Colored Bath Towel 2 Bars of Soap (4-5 ounce bars) Toothbrush (in original packaging) Large Wide-toothed Comb Nail Clipper All these items are rolled up in the towel and sent to a Lutheran World Relief warehouse to then be delivered to people who are survivors of disasters all over the world. Please help keep this ministry going. Prayer Shawls Needed: If you are a knitter or crocheter, please consider making prayer shawls. Instructions are on the ushers table. Thank you. Prayers shawls may be taken to give to someone who needs encouragement and a gift of prayer. Prayer shawls are next to the ushers table. 6

7 There will be a Women s Christmas Tea at 1:00 p.m. Saturday, December 8th at Lord of Life Church. Please bring a small plate of goodies to share and an $8 to $10 Christmas gift to exchange. Lord of Life Coffee House When we have a Praise and Worship Sunday, we have our LOL Coffeehouse set up so you can get a yummy cup of gourmet coffee to go along with your worship experience. We use the money that we receive from coffee sales to fund various projects at church such as: shipping costs for LWR Personal Care Kits, supplies for coffeehouse, purchasing postcards for Birthdays, food for various picnics/dinners and printing of business cards. Thank you for supporting the LOL Coffeehouse!! Taking Off Pounds Sensibly meets Saturday mornings at 8:00 to 8:15 for weigh in and 8:15 to 8:45 for meetings. All meetings take place at Lord of Life Church. Low cost and high support! The first meeting is free. For more information, please contact Shelly Once our receipts total $150,000, we will receive a check for $1,000 from Family Fare. There is a wooden box in the narthex where you can put your receipts. Thank you! Check us out at We are also on Facebook as Rapid City Lord of Life Lutheran Church 7

8 Operation Christmas Child A Big thank you to everyone who participated in Operation Christmas Child! We collected 27 boxes this year! Thank you and God bless! C a r o l i n g On Sunday, December 16th we will meet at the church and leave by 1:30 p.m. We will first go to Fountain Springs Healthcare and sing at 2:00 p.m. then we will go to West Hills Healthcare and sing. Afterwards we will come back to the church for pizza and pop. Come join the fun and help spread holiday cheer to nursing home residents. Wear your Santa hats or holiday headbands too! 8

9 by Dennis Green A CHRISTMAS PROMISE The bright star the shepherds and Wise men saw shining, Was the start of a journey so enticing. After much fear, hardship and weeks of travel, The greatest Story Ever Told began to unravel. Soon in a manger a child will be lying, Who, one day, for the worlds sins would be dying. Little known by the people of his day, That later He would lead the way. With a Spirit unbending, TO A GLORIOUS LIFE UNENDING! So no matter how long and rough the road may be, By keeping the Faith and trusting in him, His promise of Eternal Life will never be dim. There hasn t been a gift before or since, That held such promise as that little Prince! So remember that Glorious Day! When Jesus was born to lead the way! 9 Dennis Green - December 1994

10 There will be no Sunday School or Confirmation Class on Sunday, December 23rd or December 30th due to the Christmas Break. We will resume classes on Sunday, January 6th at 9:00 a.m. Poinsettias for the Church We would like to decorate the church with poinsettias for the Christmas Season. Plants of any size and color would be appreciated and can be brought to the church by Sunday, Dec. 23rd. There will be a sign-up sheet on the bulletin board by the office. If you would like the plant to be given in honor of or in memory of someone, please indicate that on the sheet. Carl Walz was presented the Cub Scout 3rd Religious Knot on November 18th. Congratulations Carl!! 10

11 Thank you to all who donated to the success of this year s Fall Festival. We raised $2,376 that will be used to purchase a new Lord of Life sign that will be put on the Youth Building that will be seen from the highway. We especially want to thank Edna Hedrick for making and donating the chili and Bruce & Virginia Conlee for making and donating the chicken noodle soup. Thank you to Carl Hellekson for being our great auctioneer. Thank you to everyone who made and/or donated rolls for our supper and all the food, drinks, and crafts donated for this fun night at Lord of Life! Thank you to Virginia Conlee for the pictures. 11

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15 Serving This Month Date Usher Greeter Acolyte Communion Assistants Dec 2 Dec 9 Dec 16 Dec 23 Dec 24 2:00/ 5:00 Dec 30 Tom Woodden Andrew Wasserburger Tom Woodden Max Biberdorf Brad & Brenda Johnson Leah Luebke Emily Luebke Bruce & Virginia Conlee Betty Schindler Carla Jakeway 10:00 a.m. Worship Roger Soucy Laurie Lepel Wasserburger Family Jeff & Jen Schumacher Kerry & Lacey Slaba Tom & Betty Woodden Candy Wehrle Dona Winger Sam Biberdorf Kera Miller Noah Johnson Savie Slaba Alyssa Miller Carl Walz Janyce Luebke Jeff Glanzer Tom & Betty Woodden Carl & Nancy Hellekson Emily and Leah Luebke Reader Matt Luebke Allen Olson Jen Schumacher Brad Johnson Karen Olson If you are unable to make your assignment, please call someone to trade dates. Thank you! Lord of Life Lutheran Church 2000 Lancer Drive Rapid City SD Bruce Baum - Pastor Brenda Johnson - Secretary Church Office Office Hours: M-Th 8:30 am - 12:30 pm Church lordofliferc@gmail.com Website: This is a monthly publication of Lord of Life Lutheran Church. 15

16 LORD OF LIFE LUTHERAN CHURCH 2000 Lancer Drive Rapid City SD Return Service Requested Sunday Worship Schedule 9:00 a.m. Sunday School 9:00 a.m. Confirmation Class 10:00 a.m. Worship Service Christmas Eve Services 2:00 and 5:00 p.m. Non-Profit Org US Postage Paid Rapid City SD Permit No