ADVENT & CHRISTMAS SCHEDULE

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1 December 2017 Peace Lutheran Church A congregation of Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ N. Jackrabbit Lane Belgrade, MT The Words Inside Upcoming Events 1 & 2 Pastor Bob 3 Pastor Jeff 4 December Ministry Teams 5 Calendar 6 January Ministry Teams 7 Birthdays & Anniv. Service of Hope Many Thanks Baptisms 8 Re-Piecers Annual Report Reminder CGA & Food Bank ADVENT & CHRISTMAS SCHEDULE Sunday, December 3 Wednesday, December 6 Sunday, December 10 Wednesday, December 13 Sunday, December 17 Wednesday, December 20 Sunday, December 24 10:00 a.m. Advent Worship 10:30 a.m. Sunday School & Adult Forum 2:00 p.m. Service of Dokken Nelson, 6:15 p.m. Soup & Bread 7:00 p.m. Advent Vespers Holden Evening Prayer 10:00 a.m. Advent Worship 10:30 a.m. Sunday School & Adult Forum 6:15 p.m. Soup & Bread 7:00 p.m. Advent Vespers Holden Evening Prayer 9:00 a.m. Advent Worship 10:30 a.m. Youth Christmas Breakfast 6:15 p.m. Soup & Bread 7:00 p.m. Advent Vespers Holden Evening 9:00 a.m. Advent Worship 5:00 p.m. Christmas Eve Barn Sorensen s 8:00 p.m. Christmas Eve Candlelight & Carols Peace WEDNESDAY S in ADVENT we have a Soup & Bread meal at 6:15 p.m. Following the meal at 7:00 p.m. there will be an Advent evening worship service. Please come and join us. There are signup sheets in the Fellowship Hall to provide soup and bread. Youth News Financials 9 Pastor Bob Coughlin bobcoughlin74@gmail.com Pastor Jeff Redlin jeff.redlin@gmail.com Mike Hansen Council President Karlene Swenson Church Office PeaceLutheran@live.com Here we are in this "wonderful" and "busy" time of the year! We want to inform you of the events that will be taking place during the next few weeks of Sunday school. Dec. 3rd Advent Lesson & Christmas Eve Music Practice Dec. 10th Advent Lesson & Christmas Eve Music Practice Dec. 17th No Sunday School Dec. 24 th 8 p.m. Christmas Eve/Sunday School Choir Dec. 25 th & Jan. 1 No Sunday School We will begin for the "new year" on Sunday Jan. 7 th. If you have any questions about these dates, please ask your child's teacher. Thank You, Peace Lutheran Sunday School Staff 1

2 December 3, Sunday - Dokken-Nelson Funeral Service in Bozeman, is hosting the 7 th Annual Service of Hope for those wishing to honor a loved one who has passed away. The service will include a message of encouragement, candle lighting, and a memorial slide show the service is free and all are welcome. For more information please call Christmas Mission Store Christmas is here and so is the Peace Lutheran Mission Store. December 3 rd, 10th & 17th the Re-Piecers will have our annual mission store set up in the Fellowship Hall. There will be crafts, jellies and goodies available with the proceeds going to our mission fund. The store will be open during Fellowship following the Sunday services with a basket to place your checks or cash. Any questions Carol White, Cheryl Bechtold, Diane Oddy, Marilyn Megaard or Laura Carter. BELGRADE FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS PLC will be handing out refreshments and singing Christmas carols at Belgrade's Winter Festival on Saturday, December 9 from 4-6 pm. Come join in the singing and help our community celebrate the coming of the King! If you are willing to help set up or provide treats, please talk to Pastor Bob. Christmas Poinsettias If you would like to honor a loved one or just Praise His Birth with a Christmas Poinsettia, please have them to the church by December 15 (with your name on the bottom). Your name, as well as your loved one, will be printed in the bulletin if you wish, so let the office know. After the Christmas worship, you may take your poinsettia home, or leave it at the church. December 17th, Sunday - Youth Christmas Breakfast - The breakfast will be served during Fellowship, following the Sunday Service. A free-will offering will be collected. Come to church hungry on December 17th! See Val Ross with questions or to help with food needs & preparation for the breakfast. CHRISTMAS WORSHIP SCHEDULE SUNDAY SERVICE 9 A.M. CHRISTMAS EVE MORNING CHRISTMAS EVE BARN SERVICE 5:00 p.m. Peace Lutheran Church has a very special service on Christmas Eve. It is held in Dr. Bruce and Virginia Sorensen s barn on Bolinger Road. The barn is not heated and everyone stands or sits on straw bales, so dress warm. (From Peace Lutheran Church turn right on Jackrabbit Lane and right on Main Street/Frontage Road. Turn right on Bolinger and left at the second driveway next to the trailer. Parking is in the field next to Sorensen s home. If you have any questions, please call the church office) CHRISTMAS EVE PEACE- 8:00 p.m. 2

3 Dear Family at Peace, Warm December greetings! The beginning of this month marks the start of the Advent season, when we watch and wait with expectant longing for the return of our Lord and Savior. The season of Advent reminds us of Christ s imminent return to earth in a time that only the Father knows. Themes of waiting and watching with expectancy, draw us to attend our spirits in an intentional, humble and even quiet way. At this time of year, we remember God s faithful promise to redeem his people, saving us from our shortcomings, our faults, our inabilities, and the penalty of our disobedience. Advent is a time of preparation for the celebration of the arrival of God s promised One the Lord and Savior of the whole world. Advent opens our eyes to this great arrival, just as the star guided the magi to the Christ-child. Our practice of this season guides us to the true meaning and purpose or Christmas. Advent makes us pause to reflect on our need for a Savior and the incredible gift that is offered to us in the form of a helpless baby. Advent not only opens our eyes to our own need, it makes aware of the needs of others who God came to save, but have difficulty seeing for themselves that there is a Savior or that they are in need of one. The angels announced to the shepherds the good news of great joy and peace that a Savior was born who has come to earth to heal our broken and severed relationship with God! Advent puts our minds and our hearts in a position, or posture, to receive the wonderful gift that God sends. It is not a time when we try to earn God s love or his favor through doing things to make him happy or to get him to like us. He already loves us! We need only to receive his love. So, we watch and we wait, as they did over 2,000 years ago, for God to make good on his promise, for the love of God to be made manifest in the redemption of what has been lost, estranged and cut off. To be reunited once again in fellowship with our Heavenly Father. O, come, let us adore Him! Gratefully, Pr. Bob 3

4 The angel said to them, Fear not, for behold I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. (Luke 2: 10-11) I love the Christmas season. There are the bright lights of Christmas shining in the darkness of long, winter nights. There is the warmth of our family and friends, and our church family, coming together in love and joy, peace and hope in the December cold. And above all else there is the greatest gift of all, the Son of God, wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in manger some 2000 years ago. But Martin Luther reminds us that the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ is not just a historical event, though it is certainly that. In one of his Christmas sermons Luther said, (The angel) does not simply say, Christ is born, but to you he is born. Neither does he say, I bring glad tidings, but to you I bring glad tidings of great joy. Furthermore, this joy was not to remain in Christ, but it shall be to all the people. Therefore, see to it that you do not treat the Gospel as only history, for that is only transient; neither regard it as an example, for it is of no value without faith. Rather, see to it that you make this birth your own and that Christ be born in you. I think Martin Luther s Holy-Spirit inspired words are as relevant today as they were 500 years ago. If we are honest, we are prone to think of the birth of Christ as primarily history. But that is not what the Gospel teaches us. Our faith in Christ enables us to receive him as our own, just as surely as did Mary and Joseph and the shepherds and later the wise men. Unto you a Savior has been born. A Savior who was born, lived, died, rose from the dead, ascended into heaven and will come again to bring all things under his eternal reign of peace and righteousness. That is the way the Gospel operates. My friends in Christ, the Christ child still lives! He is the same yesterday, today and always. And Christ will be the same yesterday, today and always for you and in you. And more than even that, the Christ child is meant for all the world as well. To again quote Luther, Of what benefit is it to your neighbor if you build a church entirely out of gold? Of what benefit to him is the frequent ringing of church bells? Of what benefit to him is the glitter and ceremonies in the churches, the clergy s robes, the sanctuary? (God) has commanded none of these, but if you see your neighbor going astray sinning, or suffering in body and soul, you are to leave everything else and at once help him in every way in your power and if you can do no more, help him with words of comfort and prayer. Thus has Christ done to you and given you an example to follow. If we truly want to keep Christ in Christmas, I can think of no better way to do that than to do as Christ did. All of us have people we know, and for that matter people we don t know, who are struggling to find the light of Christ in the darkness of their mind, body, or soul. May the light of the Christ child in us become a beacon of hope, love and care for all of God s children. Merry Christmas everyone! Love in Christ, Pastor Jeff 4

5 December Ministry Teams December 3 1st Sunday in Advent Piano Acolyte Usher/Lector Refreshments December 10 2nd Sunday in Advent Piano Acolyte Usher/ Lector/Refreshments December 17 3rd Sunday in Advent Piano Acolyte Country Gospel Advent Service Pr. Jeff Redlin Jinx Sorensen Devyn Sando Monson Family Karlene Swenson Julie Hanson Nancy Norberg Waiting & Watchful Advent Service Pr. Jeff Redlin Connie Holton Devyn Sando Mike & Becky Erickson Everett & Bette March Waiting & Watchful Advent Service Pr. Bob Coughlin Nancy Murdock Stara Bell Usher/ Lector Everett & Betty March Refreshments Mike & Becky Erickson December 24 Waiting & Watchful 4 th Sunday in Advent Advent Service 9 a.m. Worship Pr. Bob Coughlin 5 p.m. Christmas Eve Barn Sorensen s Barn Christmas PLC 8 p.m. Communion Service Pr. Bob Coughlin Piano/Organ Acolyte Usher/ Lector December 31 9 a. m. Worship Jackie Currey Blaise Bolich Dylan Swenson TBA Service of the Word Pr. Bob Coughlin Piano Acolyte Ushers Council for December Altar Guild for December Jinx Sorensen TBA Jackie Currey Derrick Monson/John Gillis Misty Redlin/Jinx Sorensen Julie Hanson 5

6 2017 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 1 2 Pr. Jeff recovering from surgery Dec. 14-Jan. 1 Pr. Jeff s day off 9:30 a.m. -2:00 p.m. 7 th Day Adventist 3 1 st Sunday of Advent 9:00 a.m. Worship 10:00 a.m. Coffee & Fellowship 2:00 p.m. Service of Dokken Nelson In Bozeman 6:00 p.m. Confirmation 7:00 p.m. Choir 4 Pr. Bob s day off 5:00 6:00 PM Food Bank 7:00 p.m. Boy Scouts 5 7:00 p.m. Peace Prayer Gp. 6:30 p.m. 7 th Day Adventist Prayer 6 6:30 a.m. Men s Breakfast 10:00 a.m. Peace Re-Piecers 11:00 a.m. Staff meeting 6:15 p.m. Advent Soup & Bread Supper 7:00 p.m. Advent Worship 7 3:30 p.m. Peacemakers 8 Pr. Jeff s day off 9 9:30 a.m. -2:00 p.m. 7 th Day Adventist 10 2nd Sunday of Advent 9:00 a.m. Worship Chosen People/Dakota Road Children s Christmas Program 10:00 a.m. Coffee & Fellowship 10:30 a.m. Sunday School Classes 5:00 p.m. 1-3 yr. Confirmation 7:00 p.m. Choir 17 3rd Sunday of Advent 9:00 a.m. Worship & Sunday School Program 10:00 a.m. YOUTH CHIRSTMAS BREAKFAST 4:00 p.m.. Chili Feed & Caroling 7:00 p.m. Choir 11 Pr. Bob s day off 5:00 6:00 PM Food Bank 7:00 p.m. Boy Scouts 18 Pr. Bob s day off 1-4 p.m. Clothes Closet 5:00 6:00 PM Food Bank 7:00 p.m. Boy Scouts 12 7:00 p.m. Peace Prayer Gp. 6:30 p.m.7 th Day Adventist Prayer 19 7:00 p.m. Peace Prayer Gp. 6:30 p.m. 7 th Day Adventist Prayer 13 6:30 a.m. Men s Breakfast 11:00 a.m. Staff Meeting 6:15 p.m. Advent Soup & Bread Supper 7:00 p.m. Advent Worship 20 6:30 a.m. Men s Breakfast 11:00 a.m. Staff Meeting 6:15 p.m. Advent Soup & Bread Supper 7:00 p.m. Advent Worship No School 14 9:30 a.m. Worship Comm. Mtg. 3:30 p.m. Peacemakers 7:00 p.m. Council Newsletter & Annual Reports Due Pr. Jeff s day off Pr. Jeff s day off 16 9:30 a.m. -2:00 p.m. 7 th Day Adventist 23 9:30 a.m. - 11:30 p.m. 7 th Day Adventist 24 4 th Sunday of Advent/Christmas Eve 9:00 a.m. Worship 10:00 a.m. Coffee & Fellowship 5:00 p.m. Barn Service 31 8:00 p.m. Candlelight Service 9:00 a.m. Worship 25 Church Office Closed NO Food Bank No School 26 6:30 p.m. 7 th Day Adventist Prayer 27 6:30 a.m. Men s Breakfast 11:00 a.m. Staff Meeting :30 a.m. -2:00 p.m. 7 th Day Adventist 6 6

7 January Ministry Team In December a council member will be calling the following January Ministry Team Members: Andrew & Tracey Bolich Lavern Brusven Michelle Clark Paul & Gayle Clifford Dee Feddes Paul & Theresa Flanagan John & Jennifer Handsaker Mike & Lorrie Hansen Marilyn Megaard Nancy Norberg Larry & Diane Oddy Stan & Doreen Olean Gary & Debbie Porter Kyle & Joni Sando Bruce & Virginia Sorensen Daniel & Amanda Swenson Jerry & Karlene Swenson James & Reyel Tex Jason & Tracy Weathers Bill & Marcia Zankowski If you would like to show your thanks for something in the next newsletter, please fill out a I give thanks to sheet and place it in the Give Thanks boxes that are located on the counter in the back of the Sanctuary and on a table in the Fellowship Hall. Kris Bell for arranging the acolytes every month! To all who provided supplies for Lefse. To all the huge Lefse crew! Those who made dough, set up the church, mixed, cut, rolled, grilled, and bagged lefse. You are all awesome, we could not do it without so much support!! Thanks to everyone who helped put up the Christmas Tree and decorate the sanctuary. Thanks to Cindy Gee for our altar flowers, as well as others who contribute throughout the year. 1 Ben Cestnick Cody Handsaker Tanner Beckman 2 Tiina Smith Nick Pipinich 4 Shelby Lee Tycee Wyman 6 Phil Davis 9 Kate David 11 Mark Salo 14 Laura Leininger Brandon & Deanna Thurston 16 Megan Winchester 17 Ethan Campbell 18 Joe & Jodi Robbins 21 Dennis Bechtold Gilean Murray 22 Kevin Mattson 25 Jordan Beckman 26 Kristy Rieger Julie Hanson 27 Lisa McCurley 28 Mark & Laurie Salo Phillip & Megan Winchester Al & Judith Arensmeyer 29 Michael Spinelli Max Weathers 31 Fred & Kari Haas Dokken-Nelson Funeral Service is hosting the ninth annual Service of Hope, Sun., Dec. 3, at 2pm at Dokken-Nelson, 113 S. Willson, for those wishing to set aside a time to remember a loved one who s passed away. The service will include a message of encouragement, candle lighting, and a memorial slide show the service is free and all are welcome. For info please call

8 Thank you Thank You Thank You Thanksgiving Eve Worship Service $ December ? Dawn Pipinich Thane Adams Kameron Sando Brooks Bolich Bryleigh Larson Phil Davis Cameron Handsaker Anders Paulson Hudson Smith Colter Handsaker L.D. Severson Ngovib Akukwe Nick Pipinich Morgan Mitchell Judith Arensmeyer Devyn Sando Nancy Vitarius Re-Piecers Christmas Store December 3, 10 & 17 th in the Fellowship Hall Support this worthwhile and very productive mission. Christ Gift Academy Food for the Holidays November campaign $1, ANNUAL REPORTS Reports are due December 15 th from: Pastors, Congregational Life, Council President, Education, Library, Outreach Team, Servants of Peace, Worship Committee, and Youth & Family. 8

9 December Youth Events Thank you to the congregation for your support with your time and money for the Youth Group. Our fundraiser for Lefse was a big success. Thank you all!! Christmas Breakfast! Sunday, December 17th, 2016 The youth will make and serve breakfast for the entire congregation after worship service. Come to church hungry!! Blessings! Val & Amy * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 9

10 Peace Lutheran Church 203 Jackrabbit Lane Belgrade, MT GUEST COPY Please take this with you if you are visiting. If you would like to be added to our mailing list, please contact the church office or us at The newsletter is available on the website If you do not have web access, we will be happy to mail the newsletter to you. Scriptures for December December 3 1st Sunday in Advent Isaiah 64:1-9 Psalm 80:1-7 1 Corin. 1:3-9 Mark 13:24-37 December 10 2nd Sunday in Advent Isaiah 40:1-11 Psalm 85 2 Peter 3:8-14 Mark1:1-8 December 17 3rd Sunday in Advent Isaiah 61:1-4,8-11 Psalm Thess. 5:16-24 John 1:6-8, December 24 4 th Sunday in Advent 2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16 Psalm 89:1-5 Romans 16:25-27 Luke 1:26-38 Peace Lutheran Church 203 Jackrabbit Lane Belgrade, MT Phone: (406) Web Site: LCMC: Office Hours Monday-Friday 9:00 a.m. 1:00 p.m. Peace Lutheran Staff Bob Coughlin, Pastor bobcoughlin74@gmail.com Jeff Redlin, Pastor jeff.redlin@gmail.com Karlene Swenson, Office PeaceLutheran@Live.com 10