The Bethlehem Star - December 2008

The Bethlehem Star
Volume 7, Issue 12 December 2008

Advent Helps Us Prepare the Way

Advent is a necessary time – a time of anticipation, expectation, preparation, and hope. We await the birth of a Savior. The hopes and dreams of all the years are met on Christmas Eve/ Christmas morning – not by having a certain number of family and friends gathered, not by opening certain gifts – but by gazing down at a baby in a cow stall. The focal points of our preparations are in our gathering for worship on Sundays.

Advent Midweek Devotional Worship

A short service of prayer, meditation, and singing will be held each Wednesday, December 3, 10, and 17 at 7:00 p.m. at church. This is a time to help prepare your hearts, minds, and spirit for the coming of Christ – to sit quietly and reflect on the coming of God in our lives. It will be an opportunity for quiet reflection rather than active doing or thinking.

Hanging of the Greens

Advent preparations begin at Bethlehem with a festive evening on Wednesday, December 3. A congregational potluck dinner begins at 6:00 p.m., followed by a meditative worship service at 7:00 p.m. At 7:30 we will begin “hanging the greens”, decorating the church for Advent and Christmas. All are invited – young and old – men and women – families and children.

Christmas Eve
Carols, Communion and
Candlelight
4:30 p.m. St. Mark
7:30 p.m. Bethlehem

Christmas Day
Holy Communion
9:00 a.m. Bethlehem

Jesus Is the Reason for the Season

A puppet ministry presentation by the Monmouth-Baldwin United Methodist Puppet Players
Sunday, December, 6:00 p.m.
at Bethlehem Lutheran Church
Invite neighbors and friends


Celebrate the Season
Five Season Chamber Players
Friday, December 19, 7:30 p.m.
Union Presbyterian Church
Czech and traditional carols and sing-along
Tickets available from Kathy Becker or in the church office.

Advent Hunger Project

Because we have been blessed in so many ways at Bethlehem, the Social Concerns team is providing an opportunity to share with the ELCA World Hunger Appeal during Advent. Each family can pick up an offering box and add donations to it all during Advent. These boxes will be collected on December 21 during worship. Social Concerns will contribute $50 in matching funds and Mission Endowment will contribute $100 in matching funds. Examples of what our offerings can do include:
$10 provides 10 chicks or a fruit tree seedling for a family
$150 provides a school breakfast and vitamins for one child for one year
$600 provides one year of schooling and care for a child orphaned by AIDS

Bread for the Day Devotional Booklets
Available for Sale

Bread for the Day are books of daily Bible readings and prayers based on Sunday lessons. Those prior to Sunday help lead into Sunday’s lessons and those in the days after Sunday reflect back on Sunday’s lesson. These books are available in the office for $5.00 each. A sample copy is on the table by the entrance.


Personal News from Pastor’s Family

Wartburg Seminary Board of Directors met in early November and in a major cost-cutting move eliminated 4 faculty positions and as many staff as well as instituted other cost-savings measures. On of the positions cut was the new position Ginger Anderson-Larson assumed this summer after her previous position had been eliminated in May. Her position formally ends in June after the end of the school year.

Where Did All the LWR Quilts and Kits Go?

Each year the women of Bethlehem and others make dozens of quilts and collect items for school kits, health kits ad layettes. Where do they go?

In 2007, Lutheran World Relief gathered more than 1494 tons worth more than $14 million and sent it to 23 countries in the world from Afghanistan to Zambia. In this amount there were:
452,870 quilts 194,825 school kits 114, 300 health kits
48,300 sewing kits 105,800 layettes 73,000 lbs of soap
Lutheran world relief distributes them through a variety of cooperative and local organizations from the UN High commission for refugees, national Lutheran church bodies, International Red Crescent and other partner groups.

Annual Congregation Meeting
Sunday, January 18
10:00 a.m.
(immediately following worship)

At this meeting, the congregation will:
• elect Council members ( 3 new members will be elected to three-year terms)
• elect Endowment Committee members (2 per-sons will be elected)
• approve congregation budget for 2009
• other business brought forward

If you have business to come before the congrega-tion, talk to a Council member or Pastor Larson for inclusion on the agenda.

All report need to be submitted to the office by Jan-uary 3.
Endowment Survey/ News

A survey is enclosed to assist the Mission Endowment Committee in preparing the 2009-10 budget. Please complete it and place in the offering plate or in the church office on or before December 15

A First Trust and Savings Bank official recently notified the Mission endowment Chair that the deposit insurance company that insures our savings account will no longer be offering such insurance beginning in February. The bank is seeking other insurers, but in the event that one is not found, the congregation will need to decide whether to invest in other institutions in other or to keep our Mission Endowments funds at FB&T without insurance (beyond the $250,000 now offered by FDIC).

Council News

Bethlehem Congregation Council met for its regular business meeting on November 11. In business the Council:
• set times for the Annual Congregation meeting and Christmas worship times. See announcements in this Star;
• began work on salaries and budget;
• heard the following Treasurer’s report;
Balance 9/30/07 $ 47.13
Oct Income $7680.41
Oct Expenses $7156.97
Balance 10/31/07 $ 570.57











Message from Barb

On the coast, many of the old houses have platforms built near the highest point of the house that provide walkways with railings. They were fashioned so that people could stand and watch for ships at sea. The walkways took on a special importance for women whose husbands were seafaring men, whose work took them aboard vessels that put out to sea for long periods of time. Such walkways came to be known as widows' walks. Sailing the seas could become very dangerous at any time. Many times the ships never made it back to port.

One can just imagine a woman with her skirts billowing in the sea breeze, a shawl wrapped around her shoulders, gazing with hope and longing, at the ocean. Her eyes would be fixed on the horizon, that dark blue place where sea and sky meet, yearning to see a mast appear, a visual sign that a ship was approaching land, maybe the very ship that was carrying her husband home.

Likewise we wait and watch. The deep blue horizon of hope and promise is ours. It is the Advent Season of the Church. Our altar and pulpit are draped in blue. Each week of Advent, we light another blue candle, as a reminder of the light that is Christ. Advent is the time when we put on the mantle of hope and promise as we remember that Christ came to us; Christ rose; and Christ will come again.

The blue horizon is a certain place of hope, the place we know to look for the rising of the sun which dispels the darkness. Like the certainty of the rising sun each day, Advent is a time when we look for the sure hope that is Christ, not just in the future coming, but daily, in those places of darkness.

There are ways we can be that light of Christ in the world. We can decorate our churches with visual images of Christ. We can Christmas carol for people who are house bound, bringing them the word of Christ in song. Even though we are going through tough times, this is a time to remember those who have little or no hope. We can contribute toys for children who otherwise might be celebrating a meager Christmas. We can help re-stock the food pantry so no one has to go hungry during the holidays.

Come worship as we wait and watch as a community. Keep Advent, the time of watching for the promise of the Light of God, in your hearts and minds; and share the promise with those who yearn for hope.


December Birthdays

1 Barb Tobiason
2 Dana Zeller
3 Ryan Smith, Lisa Gruenwald
4 Marge Long
5 Jeannette Schroeder
6 Ryne Kleinsmith
10 Tom Gruenwald
11 Warren Ihns, Paul Amlin
14 Tonya Adrian, Kassidy Schroeder
15 Al Schroeder
16 Deanne Bennett, RayPaul Nissen
17 Colleen Smith, Lynn Thiede
23 Jessica Ihns
26 Dale Rickels
27 Tom Stoll
31 Jim Holtz

December Anniversaries



1 Rochelle and Don Busch
1 Marge and Don Long
21 Joan and Dennis Kleppe
27 Eleanor and Ed Sheldon

Christmas Eve
Carols, Communion and Candlelight
4:30 p.m. St. Mark
7:30 p.m. Bethlehem
Christmas Day
Holy Communion
9:00 a.m. Bethlehem


December 2008
Pastor Keith Larson
Office Phone 678-2301
Home Phone 678-2303
E-mail keith.larson@ecunet.org
or pastor@bethlehem.mylutheran.org

Pastoral Associate Barb Tobiason
Office Phone 826-2761
Home Phone 319-465-3124
AIM@bethlehem.mylutheran.org


Office Secretary Deanne Bennett
Church Phone 678-2301
secretary@bethlehem.mylutheran.org

Parish Nurse Carm Schneider
Office Hours 9:00 a.m. -10:30 a.m. Tues
Phone 678-2302

Sunday Schedule

Worship 9:00 a.m.
Sunday School and Fellowship 10:00 a.m..

Office Hours

Pastor Keith is in the office most mornings
Monday – Thursday 9:00 a.m. – Noon
and Saturday 11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.

If you need to enter the church and do not have a key, always call ahead to be certain he or someone is here