Word of God Lutheran Church January 2016 Volume 4 Issue 1 In This Issue: Birthdays & Anniversaries - 2 Luther Bookworm Recommends - 3 Second Sunday of Advent - 4 Real Life Center Food Bags - 5 Real Life Center Food Bags - 6 Third Sunday of Advent - 7 Youth Skit Dec 13, 2015-8 WoGL Adult Choir - 9 Tuesdays with God - 10 Fourth Sunday of Advent - 11 Christmas Eve 4 PM Service - 12 Christmas Eve 7 PM Service- 13 Photos with WoGL Christmas Tree - 14 Christmas Day 2015-15 First Sunday after Christmas - 16 Angel Tree - 17 Global Hope- 18 Mission Outreach Ministry Thanks - 19 Upcoming Events - 20 Mighty God, we thank you for the holy gift you gave us when you placed your heavenly Son into the arms of an earthly mother. Having heard the joyful message of the angels, the shepherds went to Bethlehem to see the Christ Child. We pray that all people may come to know the meaning of his birth and experience the joy of salvation through Jesus Christ. Grant us faith to know that you are always near. Lead us to listen to the Gospel so that we may know your Son, the Savior, who is Christ the Lord. Lord in your mercy..hear our prayer.
*Please send additions and corrections to wogadmin@ woglutheran. org Happy Birthday! Happy Anniversary! 12 Lynda & John Wojcik 13 Sonya & Terry Murphy 3 Nassisse Tumsa 4 Katrina Frost 9 Mac Stephens 11 Wes Holbrook 13 Tina Petersen 14 Sandy Davis 14 Ivars Lacis 18 Bert Laaker 19 Diann Eveland 20 Carla Kuehl 20 Melinda Poff 21 Meagan Lennon 24 Amy Doil 26 Ted Thomas 28 Diane Durden 30 Vija Cole 2
Remarkable Creatures By: Tracy Chevalier When Mary Anning uncovers an unusual fossilized skeleton in the cliffs near her home on the English coast, she sets the religious fathers on edge, the townspeople to vicious gossip, and the scientific world alight. 3
Dec 6, 2015 Second Sunday of Advent There were 126 worshiping at Word of God Lutheran Church in Peachtree City, Georgia this morning. A joyous time! Mike Lennon and Terry Murphy worked the sound system Andi Laaker and Sonya Murphy gave announcements Nickolas Hacker lit the Advent wreath candles and Will Doil read devotions Matthew Drury was assisting minister and Andi Laaker was presiding minister Lynn Fletcher handed out candy canes during the children s sermon and explained when held upside down represent J for Jesus Reverend Gemechis Buba Preached 4
December 6, 2015 After worship the congregation gathered in the Annex to pack bags of food for the Real Life Center to distribute to those in need. 5
Dec 6, 2015 Real Life Center For five years now the families from Word of God Lutheran Church have donated bags full of all the items needed to make a Christmas Dinner. This year they provided 130 bags which will make a real difference this holiday for the families receiving them. We are so thankful for Word of God and their desire to serve others! Thanks to the Simmons for delivering the bags each year! 6
Dec 13, 2015 Third Sunday of Advent Beautiful day today! There were 140 worshiping our Lord and Savior this morning. Eddie Griffin was acolyte Roy Eveland gave the announcements Hacker family lit the Advent candles Hacker family also read the devotions Hal Prather read the Scripture lessons Will Doil read the Gospel Mary Prather gave the children s sermon 7
Dec 13, 2015 Third Sunday of Advent The young people presented a skit called "Twas the Night that Bore Christmas," NOT "The Night BEFORE Christmas". Narrator Caitlyn Switzer The critics remind Mary that Joseph is Jewish not Swedish Angel Gabriel speaking to Mary 8
Word of God Lutheran Church Choir The WoGL adult choir sang, Ashley Helvig played her flute, and JoAnn Nieves played the piano on Sunday, December 13 th. The adult choir will also be singing at the Christmas Eve services at 4:00 and 7:00 on December 24, 2015. 9
Tuesdays with God gathers at 9:30 for Bible study and on December 14 th, they celebrated their annual lunch with salads and desserts. What a wonderful time we have together! 10
Dec 20, 2015 Fourth Sunday of Advent There were 120 worshiping at Word of God Lutheran Sunday morning. Cheryl Drury was assisting minister and read the scriptures Drury family lit the Advent wreath candles and read the devotions Grant Prather was acolyte and Jack Drury was crucifer Vince Compagno read the Gospel and gave the messge Vija Cole gave the children s sermon 11
Dec 24, 2015 The Nativity of Our Lord There were 76 of us worshiping Christmas Eve at Word of God Lutheran Church at the 4 PM service. We missed the families who traveled out of town and welcomed the families who came to Peachtree City to join us. Ted Thomas was presiding minister and Matthew Drury was assisting minister Darcy Drury was acolyte and Stephanie Pike was crucifer Pastor Larry Lystig read the Gospel Sonya Murphy gave the children s sermon Jean Koon and her son, James at the 4 PM Christmas Eve Service Darlene & Dick Lindquist and family 12
Dec 24, 2015 The Nativity of Our Lord There were 83 of us worshiping Christmas Eve at Word of God Lutheran Church at the 7 PM candlelight service. Jon Durden was presiding minister and his daughter, Shelby, was the assisting minister Owen Apfel was the crucifer and Emma Krause was the acolyte Pastor Larry Lystig read the Gospel Sonya Murphy gave the children s sermon 13
Ted & Sandy Thomas Carolyn & Pastor Larry Lystig Nassissee, Labsi, Raya, and Debbie Hacker family: Karen, Craig Colin and Nickolas Judi & Wes Holbrook Jennifer Switzer, John & Lynda Wojcik, and Caitlyn Switzer Kinley, Sonya & Terry Murphy Chris, Britt, and Kalynn Burns, and Ginnie & Pastor John Weber 14
Dec 25, 2015 Christmas There were 24 of us worshiping Christmas Day at Word of God Lutheran Church. Total for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day was 183 Karen Helvig Krause was acolyte and her brother, Bill Helvig, was crucifer Pastor Larry reading the prayers written by Judi Holbrook PowerPoint was used in place of bulletins John Krause completed the prayer cross and the smaller silver cross was forged by the cross builders Vija Cole and her new socks provided the children s sermon 15
Dec 27, 2015 First Sunday after Christmas The children presented a Christmas play today narrated by Cooper Ruck. Andi Laaker was the producer, director, and leader. Cooper Ruck narrated the Christmas play Joseph and Mary searching for a place to stay The wise men seek Jesus Bert Laaker furnished the children s sermon 16
Angel Tree We are a generous congregation! Our 100 Angel Tree gifts were delivered to Southland Health and Rehabilitation and were handed out to the residents during their Christmas party. A special thank you to Russ Crawford and his merry band of Cross Builders. Their efforts provided crosses to attach to each of our packages. 17
Dear Holly, Global Hope I praise God for your recent gift of $1,200.00; and am grateful that together we can serve some of the neediest children in the world. There's no doubt that financial gifts are critical in providing ongoing care for the children, and Global Hope is blessed to have faithful servants like you who give toward a cause close to God's heart. This month, throughout churches nationwide, there is a focus on the plight of the orphan (Orphan Sunday being Nov. 8). It is a great time to encourage Christians everywhere that doing something, even if it's small, can make a big difference in the lives of children. While there are many ways a person can touch the life of a child (like your giving!), there is another very important way...through prayer. The Bible reminds us that we should pray without ceasing, and present all our cares and concerns before Him. It reminds us that Cod hears every request and answers prayer according to His will. We are also charged with interceding on behalf of others, just as Jesus interceded for us on the cross (Jn 17:20-23). And when we bring others before God, He can use that time to show us His will for US in relation to that person or cause. Prayer is often a first step to action! With this in mind, Global Hope created a 20-day prayer guide so that we can come together in prayer to remember the orphan and vulnerable child. Each day is a short prayer that can be prayed anywhere, anytime. Because your concern for the children is evident, I would like to encourage you to take this 20-day challenge of praying for the children and this cause. Proverbs 31:8-9 tells us to "Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy." And, that is something we can all do! To get the prayer guide, visit our website: www.globalhope.org/20-day-prayer-guide. From there you can read the prayers online, or download a copy to print out and place somewhere you'll remember to look at each day. May God's blessing be with you as you pray earnestly this month! Suzanne Dubois, Development Director suzanne.dubois@globalhope.org 18
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Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 1 2 3 Worship 4 Faithful Hands Ministry 5 "Tuesdays with God" 6 ROMEO's 7 Assemble Bulletins ML/SC Meeting 8 9 Discipleship Team Meeting 10 11 Sunday School Worship M.O.M. Team Chapel Chat Meeting Congregational Meeting 12 "Tuesdays with God" 13 RLC Warehouse Youth CONNECT 14 Assemble Bulletins 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 Sunday School Worship Adult Choir Rehearsal Faithful Hands Ministry "Tuesdays with God" Finance Team Meeting Youth CONNECT Assemble Bulletins Service Committee Meeting Midwest Food Bank Pre-Pack 24 Sunday School Worship Adult Choir Rehearsal 25 Worship & Music Team Meeting 26 Midwest Food Bank Distribution "Tuesdays with God" 27 Midwest Food Bank Distribution Youth CONNECT 28 Midwest Food Bank Distribution RLC Mobile Food Pantry Assemble Bulletins 29 30 31 Sunday School Worship The Collect is a monthly newsletter of Word of God Lutheran Church. It is published the beginning of each month. Please send submissions to wogadmin@woglutheran.org. Deadlines will be posted on the Upcoming Events Calendar! Want to learn more about WoGLC? V i s i t o u r w e b s i t e! 20