Our Savior s Lutheran Church D e c e m b e r 2 0 1 7 S u n M o n T u e W e d T h u F r i S a t 1 2 7:30am Bible Fellowship 3 1 Advent/Food Pantry Sunday Installation Sr. Pastor Emmy Swedlund 8:30am Worship w/holy 9:30am Coffee & Fellowship 9:45am Sunday School, Choir 11:00am Worship w/holy 2:00pm Community Service of Remembrance-Epworth United Methodist Church 4 9:30 Morning Prayer 12:15pm Sr. High Lunch 5 9:00am Ministerial Association 6 9:30am Bible Study 12:10pm Sounds of the Season 3:15pm Kids for Christ 6:00pm Supper 6:30pm Confirmation 7 8 9 7:30am Bible Fellowship 10 2 Advent 8:30am Worship w/holy 9:30am Coffee & Fellowship 9:45am Sunday School, Choir 11:00am Contemporary Worship w/holy 12:00pm Pizza Party 1:00pm Christmas Program 11 9:30am Morning Prayer 12:15pm Sr. High Lunch 12 9:00am Text Study 13 9:30am Bible Study 12:10pm Sounds of the Season 3:15pm Kids for Christ 6:00pm Supper 6:30pm Confirmation 7:00pm Committees 8:00pm Council 14 15 Annual Reports Due 16 7:30am Bible Fellowship 17 3 Advent/Abused Persons Outreach Collection 8:30am Worship-Cantata 9:30am Coffee & Fellowship 9:45am No Sunday School 11:00am Worship-Cantata 2:00pm Legacy 3:00pm Sheyenne Care Center 24 4 Advent/Christmas Eve 10:00am Worship w/ Holy 3:00pm, 4:30pm, 10:00pm Candle light Worship w/holy 31 New Year s Eve 10:00am Worship w/holy 9:45am No Sunday School, No Choir 18 9:30am Morning Prayer 12:15pm Sr. High Lunch 25 Christmas Day 10:00am Worship w/holy 19 9:00am Text Study 20 9:30am Bible Study 10:30am Rudolph Square-OSLC 12:10pm Sounds of the Season 7:00pm Sarah Circle 26 27 9:30am Bible Study No Kids for Christ No Confirmation 21 9:30am Pastor s Conference-OSLC 2:00pm Hannah Circle 22 23 7:30am Bible Fellowship 28 29 30 7:30am Bible Fellowship
11th Annual Sounds of the Season Brown Bagger Series If you like to listen to Christmas music during the holiday season, you now have another opportunity to listen to Christmas Holiday music the three Wednesdays in Advent beginning on December 6th during the noon hour. These listening opportunities will be held in the sanctuary of Our Savior's Lutheran Church located at 138 3rd St. N.W. in Valley City from 12:10 pm to 12:55 pm giving listeners time to pick up a sandwich or other type lunch and make their way to the church. Depending on the featured performer, the length of the performance may be altered a few minutes. Performances are scheduled for Wednesday, December 6, 13 and 20. So bring your lunch if you haven't had it yet or enjoy Provided refreshments if you have had lunch and enjoy the 11th Annual "Sounds of the Season" Brown Bagger Series. The public is invited to attend any or all the sessions in this Christmas Holiday music series. For Your Information Church Office Hours Monday-Friday 8:00 am-3:00 pm Church Building Hours Monday-Thursday 8:00 am-5:00 pm Friday 8:00 am-3:00 pm Saturday-Sunday 8:00 am- 12:00 pm Phone Numbers Church Office 845-1328 Pastor Emmy Swedlund Cell (701)552-2419 Pastor Kirsten Frantsvog Cell (701)367-3897 If we do not answer, please leave a message so that we can get back to you. December Worship Schedule Sunday December 3 First Sunday in Advent, Worship with Holy at 8:30 & 11:00 am Installation of Pastor Emmy Swedlund as Senior Pastor at both worship services Sunday, December 10 Second Sunday in Advent, Worship with Holy 8:30 am Traditional Worship, 11:00 am Contemporary Worship 12:00 Pizza Party 1:00 pm Sunday School Christmas Program Sunday, December 17 Third Sunday in Advent, Worship with Holy and Choir Cantata Song Emmanuel at 8:30 & 11:00 am Sunday, December 24 Fourth Sunday in Advent, Worship with Holy at 10:00 am Christmas Eve candlelight Services at 3:00, 4:30, and 10:00 pm Monday, December 24 Christmas Day Worship with Holy at 10:00 am Sunday, December 31 Christmas Worship with Holy at 10:00 am
Thank you to Essentia Health for the donation of an AED to Our Savior s Lutheran Church. The AED is located near the information counter. If you are interested in being trained on using the AED, please leave your name in the church office. We are grateful for this gift. You Are Invited Pictured, from left to right: Scott Miller, Barnes County Though the holiday season is a joyful time, sadness also fills these days, especially for those who grieve the death of loved ones. You are invited to the Community Service of Remembrance to join with others who carry sadness in their hearts. We ll share in a time of prayer, song, and remembrance, followed by refreshments and conversation. Sunday, December 3, 2017 2:00 pm Epworth United Methodist Church 680 8th Ave SW, Valley City, ND Ambulance; Melissa Miller, Barnes County Ambulance; Leah Deyo, Essential Community Health; Alana McClellan, Cardiac Ready Community/CHI Mercy; Pastor Emmy Swedlund, Our Savior s Lutheran Church; Dr. Tanya Diegel, Essential Health. Celebrate the Child 6 Characters * One Actor * A Fresh Look at the Nativity A special Christmas service for all ages Celebrate the Child, a one-man play featuring Christian actor and speaker Jonathan Swenson, will be performed at Faith Lutheran Church (309 4 th St NE) on Wednesday December 13th at 6:30 pm. A meal will be served from 5:30-6pm. Written by Curt Cloninger, this combination of characters and carols explores the birth of Jesus through the eyes of six different people whose lives were somehow intertwined with the birth of Christ. Both entertaining and deeply moving, the drama invites the audience to experience the Nativity in fresh and meaningful ways. It is one hour in length. This event is open to ALL. A free-will offering will be received for Jonathan s ministry. Hosted by the Barnes County Ministerial Association, Lerud-Schuldt-Mathias Funeral Home, Oliver-Nathan Funeral Chapel, CHI Health at Home & Hospice, and Hospice of the Red River Valley. You are also invited to stick around for the Troubadours Concert, held at 4:00 pm at Epworth United Methodist that afternoon. Women of Our Saviors A big thank-you to everyone who made the Fall Bake, Quilt and Lefse Sale another wonderful success. There was a lot of mixing, rolling, frying and packing done the Thursday before the sale as 695 Lefse was produced. UFF Da--that's a lot of Lefse! And don't you know, it was all sold!! So that, with the sale of all the other great goodies, made for proceeds of $2,450.00 from the Bake Sale. Quilts sold amounted to $455.00. Add in dollars from the coffee and rolls, cards and coffee, and Olivewood items sold and it all amounted to a great day. Your Women of Our Saviors board will now meet and distribute funds to many great local, state and worldwide projects. Again, thank you so very much. God Bless. Jan Stowman, President
Members of the January Our Savior s Servants Missionary Sponsorship Jimmy & Tara Altringer David & Heide Beierle David & Sue Carlsrud Annie Corbin Donna Ekern Dorothy Evenson Eric Fretheim Scott & Susan Jorissen Bob & Dr. Misty Anderson Lowell Busching Ken & Karen Christianson Paul & Tanya Diegel Scott Engler Arlene Flatlie Kyle & Jessica Gregerson Don & Dawn Knutson 2017 Missionary Sponsorship Calendar is on the bulletin board across from the Church Office. For $20/day you can sponsor a day and faithfully support the work of our ELCA missionaries, Anne and Willie Langdji, who serve as the ELCA Madagascar, West and Central Africa Regional Representatives; and also the work of Global Health Ministries. Thank you for your faithful and generous mission support. Doug & Vi Quick Maureen Svihovec Jason Thornton Dewey & Kristi Schweitzer Aarika Thornton Ron Tolstad Mark & Andrea Winter Thank You to November Our Savior s Servants and their Coordinators: Bob & Rosalyn Bruhschwein, Darin & Julia Anderson Altar Committee: Don & Sandy Bauer Flower Committee: Rosalyn Bruhschwein & Mary Creviston Thank you to our faithful ushers, who assist us every Sunday morning. Radio broadcast Radio broadcast of the 8:30 worship is on Sunday morning at 11:00 a.m. on KOVC 1490 AM. To sponsor a broadcast and/or reserve a sponsorship date for 2018, please contact the church office. The cost to sponsor a broadcast is $100 and you may provide this gift in memory of or in honor of someone, an anniversary or another significant event. Your gift to this important ministry is appreciated. Christmas Plants at Our Savior s Share a poinsettia plant and help decorate the sanctuary of Our Savior s this Christmas. Complete the information below and return to the church office or offering plate by Sunday, December 10. I wish to contribute a poinsettia plant: Given by In appreciation /honor of In memory of Please bring the plant to Our Savior s by the time of the Christmas worship services. You may pick up your donated plant following the Christmas Eve or Christmas Day worship. A list of those providing poinsettia plants will be included in the December 25 bulletin. Thank you.
Come, thou long expected Jesus, born to set thy people free, From our fears and sins release us; let us find our rest in thee. Israel s strength and consolation, hope of all the earth thou art, Dear desire of ev ry nation, joy of ev ry longing heart. Come thou long expected Jesus. What a prayer those five words are for us as we begin the season of Advent. Advent is a season of anticipation, preparation and waiting. We are called to prepare our hearts and lives to receive the Christ child just as expectant parents wait for the birth of their own child. With the birth of a child, parents ready themselves and their homes to receive the newly born. Shouldn t we prepare to receive the Christ child with the same care? Come thou long expected Jesus. So often we get caught up in a different kind of preparation and anticipation. Our focus is easily drawn away from the One whose birth we celebrate. Christmas lights, bright decorations, shopping mall music, baking, holiday parties, wrapped packages and family gatherings all compete for our attention. Where in the midst of the hustle and bustle is there time to prepare for a baby? Come thou long expected Jesus, born to set thy people free. The celebration of Christmas is not just the celebration of Jesus birth; it is the celebration of what God has done through the child that is born. When we see the babe lying in the manger we also see a man hanging on a cross, for the events of Christmas and Easter are intertwined. One event cannot be separated from the other. The One who is born has come to set us free. Born thy people to deliver, born a child, and yet a king; Born to reign in us forever, now thy gracious kingdom bring. By thine own eternal Spirit rule in all our hearts alone; By thine all-sufficient merit raise us to thy glorious throne. Come thou long expected Jesus. May our hearts this Advent season be focused on the true gift of Christmas and may our prayer be received. God s blessings to you as you prepare to receive the child born for you, to set you free. Pastor Kirsten Frantsvog