Volume 34, Issue 12

Advent and

Christmas

Worship

1

Letter from Pastor Steve

2

Youth and

Family News

3

Adult Ministry 5

December Anniversaries & Birthdays

Church

Calendar

6

7

Inside this issue:

Hope Lutheran Church, Bozeman, Montana

We will gather together for worship on Christmas Eve at 3:30pm,

5:30pm, and 10:00pm. All services will include Pastor Steve’s

Christmas message, “We’re Not that Far from Bethlehem” and

conclude with candlelight singing of Silent Night.

Our 3:30 worship will be led by our praise band, with solos from

children throughout our congregation playing as well. There will be a

children’s message at this service.

Our 5:30 worship will also have a children’s message and will be led by

piano and organ.

Our 10:00 worship will be led by the choir and there will not be a

children’s message at this service.

We invite you and your family to join us for

one of these services and look forward to

rejoicing in the birth of Jesus with you!

Join us for Advent, the season of waiting for the

birth of Jesus. We will begin on December 1st at

both services with the blessing of the Advent

wreath and the lighting of the first candle.

See you then!

Dec.

24

Page 2 Volume 34, Issue 12

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

How are you at waiting? If you are like me I even get upset when I have to wait at a

traffic light for two cycles before I can proceed. Now we have instant oatmeal

because cooking oatmeal for five minutes just takes too long. I will use the self-

checkout lane only when the lines at the cashiers are too long. Christmas

decorations and Christmas music have been playing already for weeks so what is

the Church thinking about when we have this four-week season of Advent? Why

this emphasis of patient waiting to prepare to celebrate Christmas?

Almost every pastor hears complaints from members if they try to hold to singing Advent focused

hymns and delay the singing of Christmas carols to the fourth Sunday of Advent. Advent is a season of

preparation. Actually we spend a lot of life preparing for important celebrations. Many will spend days

preparing to celebrate the Thanksgiving meal. I spent twenty-two years in school preparing to

graduate from seminary and be ordained a pastor. Look at the time that is spent in preparing for a

wedding reception.

I believe the season of Advent is a gift the church offers us each year. It is a call to reflect

on the whole story of God’s love and not jump to the chapter on that Silent Holy Night in

Bethlehem. It can be a time to add the reading of a daily devotional and have a few

minutes of reflection. I have posted on our website the Advent Devotional produced by

Luther Seminary, Days of Desire: Longing for the Advent Dawn. I remember as a child

eagerly waiting each night of Advent to open the next window on our Advent Calendar. It was a

wonderful way to countdown the time to Christmas. Jacquie Larson has made available for families an

online Advent Calendar that has amazing animations that add to the calendar each day. The cost is

only $4 and you can find it at: http://jacquielarson.com/advent

See the season of Advent as a gift. Accept the gift this year and discover how Advent can move you to

have a deeper and richer Christmas celebration. A Blessed Advent to All!

From the

Leadership Team at

Hope Lutheran Church

Page 3 Volume 34, Issue 12

Confirmation Update

Join us for our first ever Family Advent Festival

On Sunday, December 8 at 4 p.m.

we are excited to debut a new

tradition for Advent at Hope! We

will gather together for an

afternoon of crafts and advent

based activities that will conclude in

a meal and a Christmas sing-along.

We will begin at 4 with 8-10 crafts

that children, youth and adults can

create to decorate their homes for

the Advent season. These will

include Advent calendars,

ornaments, and more!

At 5:30 we will enjoy a meal

together! We’ll provide pizza., you

provide sides and desserts. We’ll

conclude with an advent story and

carol sing at 6 p.m.

Each family is encouraged to bring

$5 per person who wishes to make

crafts.

This allows us to offer high quality

crafts! If this is a hardship for your

family please come anyway (we will

cover the costs).

We’ve been having great success

with our family programs this fall…

come on out and make this event a

huge success!

If there are any questions contact

Paul Goodman or Kayla Billings.

Coming in December:

12/1 Thanksgiving break

12/8 Advent Festival

See above for information about the

advent festival!

12/15 Family Caroling

Join us with your parents for an

evening of caroling to our direct

neighborhood. We will walk to local

neighbors and jump in the car to visit

local shut-ins from Hope. We’ll gather

back at the end of the evening for hot

cocoa and cookies! All ages are invited

to join us.

12/22 Youth Christmas Party

Join us from 5:30-7 on Sunday,

December 22 for a youth Christmas

Party. Bring a wrapped ornament for a

white elephant gift exchange...wear the

ugliest holiday sweater you can find for

our Ugly Sweater contest...and join us

as we turn several members into live

Christmas trees. The evening will

include food, games, and a lesson

about the real meaning of Christmas.

Don’t miss the exciting events we have

planned for December!!

Is Coming to Hope Lutheran. A new way to

purchase gift cards with a percentage being

given to our congregation!

You are now able to purchase gift cards from hundreds of businesses like Lowes, Safeway, Exxon, Olive

Garden, and more. Hope Lutheran will automatically receive a percentage from each card purchased

ranging from 3-18%. You still give the full face value of the card to spend locally or give as gift card.

Watch for details in the coming weeks. This is an excellent way to not spend an extra dollar but increase

revenue for Hope Lutheran especially this holiday season. Checkout: www.shopwithscrip.com

Page 4 Volume 34, Issue 12

CHILDREN’S CHRISTMAS SHOP

DECEMBER 14

9 AM—12 PM For children age 4-10

It takes a lot of people to make Christmas Shoppe a

success. The excitement and wonder of the children

who attend make all the work so worthwhile. We have

served over 400 children in recent years, so to be

prepared, we need at least 2500 gifts. These should be new items for all family members.

Don’t forget the teen siblings and men, especially. Please no clothing and please remove

price tags from gifts before you bring them in.

You can shop, you can help solicit gifts and funds from local

businesses, donate cash, and volunteer to set up for the

Shoppe on Friday, Dec. 13 and/or help in many ways in shifts

on the 15th.

There are sign-up sheets on the bulletin board for you to

indicate how and when you can help.

SCRIPTURE READINGS FOR DECEMBER 2013

December 1 Daniel 3:1, 8-30

December 8 Ezekiel 37:1-14

December 15 Isaiah 55:1-11

December 22 John 1:1-18

December 29 John 1:19-34

Pastor Steve and Joyce thank everyone who has prayed for us, called, provided meals, or sent

cards following Steve’s back surgery. Your thoughtfulness and support mean so much to us.

Thank You!

Pastor Steve and Joyce

ADULT FAITH ENRICHMENT

BIBLE STUDIES

The Thursday 11:30 Bible Study focuses on

the Scripture texts assigned for the upcoming

Sunday services. The discussion is facilitated by

Pastor Steve or Pastoral Intern Kayla.

WOMEN’S CIRCLE

BIBLE STUDIES

The Mary-Martha Circle will meet at 9:30 am

They meet at the Bozeman Lodge.

DEBORAH CIRCLE At one point in time Hope Lutheran Church was blessed with seven active Circles. Approximately 30 years ago, there was a young mother's circle, but not an evening circle for working women so Pat Ferkin gathered a few good women together and thus began Deborah Circle. Over the years Kathryn Strom never missed the opportunity to visit with any newcomer to church and invite them to join any Circle, but always offered to bring them to Deborah Circle. There were teachers, working and non-working mothers, retired women, and women who just enjoyed the evening gathering time. The age spread was from 20-something to 80-something!

Because most were working women who couldn't spend all day at the church when it was time to serve soup at Lenten Services, it was decided everyone would bring a crock pot of soup and thus began the night of the smorgasbord of soup. Deborah Circle adopted the Health Kits as a service project for Lutheran World Relief and started off making about a dozen kits. The most recent years the numbers had risen to 40 kits. When the HLCW organization dissolved, Deborah Circle continued the tradition of taking Christmas cookies to shut ins in December. Of course, each month from September to May there was a Bible Study, dessert and visiting together at someone's home. Fast friendships were made, heartfelt feelings discussed and a lifetime bond was formed.

Deborah Circle meets the first Tuesday of

the month at 7 pm at the church.

We Say Thank You

TO FOR

Steve and Wendy Gwinner, Karen Hall, Bob Hanold., Cindy and Bob Tuthill., Gena Funk, Lila Cebulla, Sandra and Lowell Goetting and Ted Hundtoft. Many thanks for each of you for helping at the community café. A special thanks to Ted for doing ALL the dishes. We served 80 people 129 meals. In October the CC served 3699 meals. THANKS to all. Volunteer Coordinator Community Café Hope Lutheran Church Darrel Choate 624-6207

Working at the Community Café on November 17.

We are in need of more help on Sunday, December

15. Please sign up on the bulletin Board.

Keenagers For purchasing two airpots and a pancake batter

dispenser for the kitchen.

Page 5 Volume 34, Issue 12

DECEMBER BIRTHDAYS 1st

Megan Bittner

Shane Clark

Dan Lohss

Susan McConnell

2nd

Verna Holen

Heather Sikoski

3rd

Marc Beck

Ryan Cahill

Fiona Collins

Dan Larson

4th

Lorna Johnson

Tycee Wyman

5th

Clayton Cameron

Wayne Heath

Dewey Hertz

6th

Carter Ash

Dan Davies

Robert Gunderson

Brady Weedin

7th

Kristin Burian

Cindy Tuthill

8th

Mary Boscha

9th

Doug Hanson)

10th

Annique McDonnell

Jack Munson

Riley Munson

Rachel Parkes

11th

Wade Dooley

Carol Landsverk

12th

Chad Fraser

Darryl Kinion

Kevin Long

13th

Hans DuBose

Joan Johnson

Clint Lohman

14th

Kim Bergo

Debbie Gibson

15th

Henry Robinson

16th

Fred Frey

Mark Stephens

17th

Wayne Grote

Monica Portnell

Dave South (92)

Eric Tiahrt

Bonita Willard

18th

Landon Burian

Ellie Jackson

Louise Livingood

20th

Kacie Evans

Scott Levandowski

Matthew McLaughlin

Steve Ward

21st

Sheila Gilbertson

Martin Olsen (91)

Peggy Schaplow

Steve Schmidt

21st

Ted Becker

Bev Dodman-

Mosback

Lucy Waller

Lou Weiskittel

22nd

Jim Johannes

Isabella Robinson

Barb Vance (93)

23rd

Judy Opperman

25th

Mark Hagenlock

Evans Innes

Rebekah Mohr

25th

Sharon Mattheis

Clarice Skogley

Art Wittich

27th

Spencer Wilkinson

28th

Georgia Ann Flattum

Kelsey Larson

Steve Ollestad

Bill Stratton

29th

Mark Bergo

Don Hutchinson

Meredith Johnson

30th

Makyah Albrecht

Lynn Marudas

31st

Allison Bowers

Martha Edsall

Brent Rosso

DECEMBER ANNIVERSARIES

December

November

Ron and Kieren DeArmond 9 Brett and Susan Swimley 27

Lou and Lois Weiskittel 10 Hayden and Marlene Ferguson 63 28

Eric and Elizabeth Gilje 16 Charlie and Becky Pipal 28

Karen and Harold Bouse 53 17 Richard and Carol Roehm 55 28

Robert and Julia Huebner 54 19 Bill and Donna Stratton 50 28

Maynard and Carol McQuiston 20 Zach and Penny Zacharisen 28

Gary and Licia Bishop 22 Dennis and Paula Beehler 29

Jeff and June Safford 56 22 Don and Arleen Hutchinson 53 30

Loren and Karen Hester 54 27 Kirt and Heather Walstad 30

Page 9 Volume 34, Issue 12

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Page 8 Volume 34, Issue 12

Hope Lutheran Church 2152 W. Graf Street Bozeman, MT 59718 Return Service Requested

NON-PROFIT ORGAN.

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BOZEMAN, MT 59715

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