Last Week
Living Faith gathered in the PUCC Chapel to light the third candle of Advent. Thank you to Pastor Halaas for leading our worship and presiding at Holy Communion. Thank you to Dawn Richards for accompanying us, Peg McAllister for serving communion and providing the bread, Tim Kass for ushering, Angela Catton for live streaming our service to Facebook and Todd Lang and June Ferguson for filming and photographing our special events!
Living Faith's First Christmas Progam
Everyone was in on the act in presenting the program, "The Sounds of Christmas" by Deb Brammer! Jess Kopperud narrated the program which included the Christmas story and throughout his narration, different words were accented by different sounds from congregation members themselves or by instruments given to all. Kortney and Jordan Kopperud displayed the keys to which instrument or sound was associated with which word! The young children of Living Faith led us up front and Dawn Richards accompanied us on the small singing part!
After a quick rehearsal of the sounds associated with the words, Jess led us through the program with his narration. Please take a look at the Facebook posting of the live stream of this service if you were not able to be with us and you'd like to hear the Christmas story in a unique way! Thank you to Carol Hallberg who provided our group with all the instruments needed for this program!
Living Faith's First Choir Offering!
To celebrate the Advent season, Living Faith organized a choir for those interested and available to sing last Sunday! Kjersten Rathke brought in musical options and we chose "Peace, Peace" by Rick and Sylvia Powell. Members of this first vocal offering were Kevin Richards, Rich Ziettlow, Nathan Summerside, Kim Lang, Angela Catton, Gail Kass, Kay Michaelson and Kjersten Rathke and the added bonus of this selection was that the congregation joined in with the first verse of "Silent Night" to finish the piece! Special thanks goes out to Dawn Richards who put in extra time to learn the accompaniment for this piece. We hope to offer more selections in the future so watch this spcae to learn of the news of what's coming up and how you can be a part of this group if you wish!
Watch the video of the performance :
This Week
At 9:00 (** note the change in time for this Sunday only!**) on Sunday morning, we will gather in the Chapel for worship on the fourth Sunday in Advent, this year, Christmas Eve! Pastor Joy Gonnerman will be presiding and Dawn Richards will accompany us. We are in need of someone to read Scripture and someone to serve communion. Please let Kay Michaeslon know if you would like to help out in one of these two ways.
Christmas Blessings to you and your family from the Living Faith Leadership Team! All ages are invited to stop by the sign up table on Sunday to pick up a Christmas gift! There is something for young ones, experienced students, and the grown ups of our group! If you cannot attend on Sunday, these gifts will be available for you to pick up on December 31! Merry Christmas to all!
For those who would like to attend a candlelight service on Christmas Eve, here are two invitations for you:
The PUCC is holding their candlelight service at 4:00 on Sunday afternoon in their Sanctuary.
Pastor Halaas' church, St. Mark in Sioux City (5200 Glenn Ave.), is offering a 3:00 and 5:00 Chirstmas Eve service.
There will be NO Faith + Fellowship on Sunday, December 24th.
We will be back in Room 103 on December 31 at 10:15 to catch up with each other, share highs and lows and get a preview of the Gospel lesson for the first Sunday of Christmas. If you would like to provide treats on the 31st, please let Kay Michaelson know.
Upcoming Worship Opportunities!
Come Sunday, January 31 - 11:15 AM to worship in the Chapel with Pastor Halaas. Ring in the new year with your Living Faith Family! The noisy offering box will be out on the table to drop your spare change! If you missed the chance to pick up the Christmas goodies on the 24th, be sure to stop by the sign up table - and pick up New Year's surprises as well!
Living Faith Advent Project
Living Faith members used the Advent season to gather cleaning and personal hygiene supplies for Mid-Sioux Opportunities' Le Mars office. A car load full of supplies was delivered onTuesday afternoon. Kayla, pictured with Kari, was so grateful for these needed items. Thank you, Living Faith, for your Advent generosity!
Kind Thank Yous from Living Faith benevolence recipients:
"A special thanks to everyone at Living Faith Lutheran for their support of Spirit 712. Our online musical ministry is serving as an outreach to our listeners, offering the promise of hope and God's love. In appreciation - Dave Grosenheider"
"Dear Members of Living Faith Lutheran Church,
Thank you so much for your generous gift of underwear for the Le Mars Community Middle and High School! We appreciate you all thinking of our students. This is often an overlooked item and we receive few donations, even though we go through a good amount throughout the year. Your contribution helps students in our district in need and allows us to keep them in school by having items available for them. Thanks again, Erin Rolling, RN Middle and High School Nurse at Le Mars Community"
Registration packets for the Synod Assembly will be mailed out in January. Living Faith can send one voting delegate to the assembly. Please let anyone on the Leadership Team know if you would like to be a delegate and last year's delegate, Yvonne Law, could answer any questions you may have about being a delegate. Living Faith will cover registration fees and other costs for our voting delegate.
Western Iowa Synod January Waterlife Journal
Here is a link to the Synod's newsletter which contains good information including an essay from Pastor Halaas, an inspiring message from a person who has been blessed by the Church of the Damascus Road, and a picture of our Living Faith Chirstmas tree at Pioneer Village.
Typically, Annual Meetings are scheduled in January, but in reviewing our SAWC Constitution, we find that our Annual Meeting is to be convened in April.
With that in mind, here are some questions Bishop Lorna is asking churches to think about in preparation for Annual Meeting discussions:
I am asking each congregation, each person in the Western Iowa Synod to:
Consider how the promises made in Holy Baptism are lived out daily indvidually and as a congregation.
In Holy Baptism God claimed you as a beloved child and promises to be with you always. In response to God's amazing love and grace we promise to gather at God's table, to study and learn, and to work for justice and peace.
How does knowing you are a beloved child of God impact your life?
I am asking each congregation, each person in the Western Iowa Synod to:
invest the resources, the gifts that God has given you - your energy, your prayers, and your money into this work to which God has called us to do together!
How is giving a way of loving? What holds you back from giving?
I am asking each congregation, each person in the Western Iowa Synod to:
shift from thinking stewardship as budget, to budget as ministry. To shift from counting dollars to nurturing a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ.
What do you desire for the church that will encourage you to give?
From To
Fundraising Faith Raising
Preserving the building/institution Impacting lives, mission, community
Responsibility - guilt, paying dues Call of faith, generosity, abundance
Program driven Mission and ministry focused
Serving members Empowering change in lives
The ELCA website has a prayer initiative of daily prayers you can offer throughout the year. If you would like to have a tool to enrich your prayer life throughout 2024, you might like to take a look at the following link. Each month, returning to this link will give you a prayer topic for each day of that month.
Please keep all noted here in your daily prayers:
The Living Faith member you're praying for.
Baby Morgan and her parents.
Kevin Olson and his health.
Kim Lang's sister, Jane, and her health.
Ted Hallberg's sister, Karin, and her health.
Rich and Jean Ziettlow's sister-in-law and her health.
The Colling family
Christmas and New Year's travellers
Those who are experiencing hardships this holiday season.
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