ADVENT SEASON: WAITING IN HOPE TOGETHER
“O Come! O Come, Emmanuel!
ADVENT – COMING!
“Wars and rumors of wars!” Sound familiar? “Brother hating brother.” Do you recognize this world? When we look the world right in the eye, we see exactly what Jesus said that we would see. “All people will hate you because of me.” We can hide our faces so we do not see the horror. We can pretend that we did not hear about wickedness and evil. We can try to explain it away, pretend that evil is caused by social ills, rather than that social ills are just more evidence of the sin inside each one of us.
When will God save us? The amazing answer is that he is already finished. When our Emmanuel came to this earth the first time, God put into action the plan to deliver us from evil forever. When our Emmanuel comes again in glory, even death itself will be swallowed up in victory. We wait in hope. We live in peace. We work in joy. We worship in glory. “O come! O come, Emmanuel!”
LET US PRAY FOR…
- Myra Baron will be undergoing treatments for cancer;
- Octavio Bayardo who is recovering at Holy Cross hospital after a serious motorcycle accident;
- Les Haar who is recovering from surgery at St. Joes; the Haar’s daughter, Jenny, is undergoing cancer treatments, and their daughter-in-law was hospitalized on Thanksgiving Day;
- Monika, Oliver and Liam Clinger who are scheduled to be baptized on December 9th;
- Jethro James Winfrey was born on December 1st to Kent and Bettina Winfrey. Jethro’s grandfather, Pastor Sam Clemons will perform the baptism. There will be an affirmation of baptism on December 13th;
- Noah Sebastian Hernandez, the infant son of Daniel and Pamela Hernandez, who is scheduled for baptism on December 19th,
- Ron and Patsy Husmann who are celebrating a wedding anniversary;
- Steve and Sherri Snyder who are celebrating a wedding anniversary.
PRESCHOOL CRAFT NIGHT AND KINDERGARTEN OPEN HOUSE – DECEMBER 5TH
Tomorrow is Preschool Craft Night and Kindergarten Open House. Come to the event and see what K-4 and Kindergarten at St. Paul’s is all about. Event information is available at:
https://stpaulsfirst.org/event/preschool-craft-night-and-kindergarten-open-house/
STUDENT COUNCIL TOY DRIVE
We respond to God’s great gifts to us by giving our good gifts to others. Again, this Christmas season, we will be collecting toys for children who might otherwise not receive a gift for Christmas. Please bring a NEW unwrapped toy to your classroom by Tuesday, December 15th .
ADVENT SERVICES
This Wednesday we will have our special mid-week Advent Service at 7:00 pm. Grades 4-8 will proclaim the gospel in word and song, with music and instruments. These special mediations give us a chance to reflect on the great promises of Christmas captured for us in the Christmas words: HOPE, PEACE, LOVE GRACE, JOY, FOREVER! Come and hear, come and reflect, come and share the gospel!
CHRISTMAS DECORATING
We thank God for the beauty we see when we walk into our church sanctuary. Of greater beauty is the love and care God’s people offer as they serve God with their talents and abilities. Of far greater beauty still is the glory of the God who has come to meet us in worship. He is Emmanuel, God with us. We thank God for all of these blessings!
COOKIES FOR SHUT-INS
Time to buy more flour! We are going to be preparing cookie tins for delivery to our friends who need a little extra holiday cheer. Celeste Wiedmann is coordinating this effort. We will assemble the tins on Wednesday, December 9th after church. Please contact her if you have any questions.
SAVE THE DATE: CHRISTMAS FOR KIDS – DECEMBER 12
We invite children ages 3 through 4th grade to spend an inspiring morning with us as we celebrate our Savior’s birth. The FREE event will take place on Saturday, December 12th from 9:00 AM -12 noon. (Registration begins at 8:30am!) A hot dog & chips lunch will follow for everyone.
Register Online at Christmas for Kids Registration Form
PART-TIME AIDE NEEDED AT GETHSEMANE
Building Blocks Christian Academy (a ministry of Gethsemane Lutheran Church) in West Los Angeles is hiring for a part-time aide position in January 2016. We are located at 3734 S. Centinela Avenue. Experience and course work is preferred, but not required. For more information (including salary and hours) or to submit a resume, please contact the director, Kaylen Orr, at 310-397-7500 [email protected]
MY SON, MY SAVIOR
We have received our order of 200 DVD’s of the film My Son, My Savior. This is a powerful portrayal of the life of Jesus as seen through the eyes of his mother, Mary. Bruce Marchiano and Corrina Crade have the lead roles. You will remember Bruce Marchiano from the award winning biblical dramas, Road to Emmaus and Come Follow Me.
We will be sharing these DVD’s as part of our Christmas outreach efforts at Christmas for Kids and other events. You can do the same. The cost of the DVD’s was $2.00 each. If you would like to donate for this part of our work, please use the special offering envelope and mark it “DVD’s.”
OPPORTUNITIES TO SERVE JESUS AND OTHERS
December 4 – Preschool Craft Night and Kindergarten Open House
December 9 – Children’s Christmas Service of Peace (Grades 4-8) 7:00 pm
December 9 – Cookies for Shut-Ins – We’ll prepare the tins after the service.
December 12 – Christmas 4 Kids Register Online At Christmas for kids registration form
December 17 – Children’s Christmas Service of Joy (Grades K-3) 6:340 pm
December 19 – Caroling at St. John’s 6:00 pm
December 24 – Christmas Eve Services of Love 7:00 & 10:00 pm
December 25 – Christmas Day Services of Truth 10:00 am
December 31 – New Year’s Eve Communion Services of Forgiveness Forever 6:00 pm
