December 2020

Lord of Life Lutheran Church—ELCA

Lifelines

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"The 'Why of It All"

My mother gave me a ceramic Nativity set that she had made.

It has all the figures: Joseph, Mary, a couple of shepherds, a few

sheep, three camels, three kings with gifts in their hands, a donkey,

a cow, angels, and of course, the baby Jesus. It's such a pretty set

of figures and the stable my dad made is really neat.

I suppose most of you have a Nativity set that you put on display

in your home as Christmas approaches. Yours and my Nativity sets

are probably very similar. But they probably are not an accurate

rendition of the real thing.

The word "manger" can be translated to mean a feeding trough

or an enclosure for animals. In that part of the world animals were

kept in caves, and feeding troughs were made out of stone, so

Jesus was probably born in a cave, not a wooden structure, and he

slept not in a wooden trough but in a stone trough. And if your baby

Jesus figurine is like the one I have, Jesus looks to be about a year

old, his hair is blond, his skin is pink, and his eyes are blue — and

that certainly is not how the real Jesus looked.

I have been to Bethlehem and have visited the "supposed" place

where Jesus was born. It's nothing at all like what our Nativity

scenes depict. It is a dark cave, except for modern lighting, and the

trough is really a large stone, standing a couple feet above the floor

of the cave, with a wide and deep groove carved in it. This kept the

hay or straw from falling out of the trough.

But have you ever wondered why Jesus born in a manger?

Why was he born in Bethlehem instead of the holy city of Jerusalem?

He was the King of kings. His place of birth should have been a

palace, not a cave in the ground. And why was he born in Bethlehem

and not in Jerusalem the holy city" The answer to those two questions

can be summed up with two words: humility and accessibility.

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Humility describes Jesus' entire life and ministry. He was born in

a cave similar to the borrowed cave his lifeless body was laid in after

his crucifixion. He was born in Bethlehem because that is where

the Old Testament prophets said the Savior would be born. Jesus

was born in a manger, not in a magnificent and elaborate palace

with a throne room that would be intimidating to every observer.

The place where Jesus was born was not grandiose or intimidating;

it was a smelly cave with animals in it. This made Jesus accessible

to everyone and anyone ranging from peasant shepherds to scholars

and mighty kings. No one needed an invitation to see him, neither

did they have to have special credentials in order to come before

him. No one had to be searched and they didn't have to pass by the

suspicious eyes of watching guards. Any visitor could come and

see Jesus because he was always accessible… to children, women,

gentiles, beggars, thieves, religious leaders — sinners of all kinds.

This whole event of Jesus' birth is amazing, and the more I think

about it, the more staggering it becomes. If I have destroyed your

mental pictures of Jesus' birth, I'm sorry. But the important thing is

that he, God's Son, was born to be our Savior. Jesus was born as

God's gift of love and mercy; he was born to die for our sins so that

we could be forgiven and live with him forever in heaven.

I wish for all of you my friends, the special blessings of Christmas

and the New Year. And remember that the Christmas heart is a

giving heart, a wide-open heart that thinks of others first, just as

Jesus did. Amen.

Pastor Bruce

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Check us out at www.lordoflifelutheranrc.org

We are also on Facebook as

Rapid City Lord of Life Lutheran Church

Please join us for our

Christmas Eve Candlelight Services

on Thursday, December 24th

at 2:00 and 5:00 p.m.

Poinsettias for the Church

We would like to decorate the church with

poinsettias for the Christmas Season. Plants of

any size and color would be appreciated and can

be brought to the church by Sunday,

Dec. 20th. There will be a sign-up sheet on the

bulletin board by the office. If you would like the

plant to be given in honor of or in memory of someone, please

indicate that on the sheet. Thank you.

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We had so much fun last year doing this that we

thought we would do it again. We are having an Ugly

Christmas Sweater Sunday on December 13th. We will

have prizes for the best sweaters. The only thing we

ask is that your attire is church appropriate. You know what we mean. We will have a great time of faith, fun and fellowship as we wear and stare at each other! Sweatshirts and T-shirts included!

There will be no Sunday School or

Confirmation Class or Adult Bible

Study on Sunday, December 27th

and January 3rd due to the Christmas Break.

We will resume classes on

Sunday, January 10th at 9:00 a.m. Have a Merry Christmas!

The Lord of Life Children’s Christmas Program will be on Sunday, December 13th at

10:00 a.m. Come and listen to Lord of Life’s talented group of kids while they play their instruments, sing, and tell

the Christmas story.

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Lord of Life Council Meeting Minutes—November 8, 2020

Present: Brad Johnson, Candy Wehrle, Roger Soucy, Chris Speirs, Max Morse, Stacey Biberdorf, Laurie Lepel, Denis Green, Joe Hauge Absent: Pastor Bruce Congregation members present: Tom Wooden

Council President Max Morse called the meeting to order at 10:54 a.m. Brad Johnson led us in prayer.

Treasurer's Report: income down a little in October, could be COVID related but may not be, also paid benevolence this month. We continue to hold our own but will have to keep watching this. We are very fortunate we have a lot of volunteers in our church. Since mortgage is paid off that money goes to savings and things/updates needed to church and that has helped during the pandemic. With a decrease in offerings how do we budget for next year? We are covering expenses, we just need to keep an eye on things. Roger moved to accept Treasurer's report, Candy seconded. All in Favor. Motion passed. Chris moved to accept secretary's minutes. Roger seconded, all in Favor. Motion passed.

Pastor's Report: Pastor Bruce not here in person but here in spirit, nice to have his message on the screen. His report was emailed to Council and will be discussed in New Business.

President's Report: Nothing to report.

Committee Reports:

Altar Guild: Nothing to Report.

Fellowship: Bowling cancelled today as no one signed up

Music and Worship: Radio station coming through with Pastor's recorded message. The sound guy is coming this week to try to help with the issue.

Education/Youth: Is there going to be a Sunday School Christmas program? Most likely not as only 2 to 4 kids coming to Sunday School, unsure of confirmation numbers. May have kids play instruments like in the past. 3 teachers rotate Sundays( Laurie Lepel, Nancy Hellekson and Chris Spiers) and they follow celebrate. We had a discussion about pulling back due to COVID numbers as some schools are going to remote learning but seems to be MS and HS closures. We will continue watching and monitoring elementary numbers.

Property: list of things needing to be done( painting on outside, storage shed is full, may need a new building, weed care). We will look at estimate on cost of these in Spring. There is a possibility that Karl and Jeff and some other church members could build shed. On Treasurer's Report, what comes out for building and grounds? Joe will look into it further but things like paint, gas for mower.

Old Business: Silent Auction/ Fall Festival is moving along, closing day November 15. Where are proceeds going? Building and church maintenance.

New Business: 1. Changing Pastor Bruce's status? Agreement? Re email about stepping back in person services due to COVID concerns.

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Changing his salary? Is it because of COVID or less time/ hours put in pastoral care( funerals, weddings, nursing home/ hospital visits). He will still record messages, possibly work in office a few days a week. 20 hours a week as interim pastor. Discussion- does he fill budget is really hurting? Do not think we are in a budget crunch right now. OR Is it because of putting in less time right now due to pandemic? - Visitations are limited right now anyways, could be done through phone calls - Moving services inside has changed who may be attending, outreach or calling members who aren't coming instead of visitations should be done by Pastor - Lead services like doing a zoom call could elevate some of Brenda's extra work, would need to look at zoom subscription cost, could let congregation not coming participate. May experience some glitches or technical difficulties - Start simple, good concept, but see if it works or how it goes - Great to have Pastor Bruce's message recording for services - Facebook live is another option( not here physically but could be a part of services) - How is Pastor Bruce with technology and using it? - Brenda has a lot on her plate thus year and has gone above and beyond as church secretary! Options- 1. Come in a couple times a week, record message, Brenda should get compensation for this, her responsibilities have increased over the years. 2. Dean Hedricks is willing to come in and lead services, write his own sermons. He is a deacon and would like to help out. 3. Pastor Bruce is willing to offer solutions to make this work. Who will update Bruce? Should be Council President Max. Do we have a call list for weddings? Funerals? Pastor Hunzeker? More thoughts - Have Dean Hedricks do communion services at least - Ask Dean Hedrick and Dwayne Hunzeker if they could be at our next council meeting to discuss things. - Valerie Gehlen is an ordained pastor of some sort and does weddings in hills. Conclude Pastor Bruce discussion. We are asking that he write and record sermons, be in office 2 to 3 days a week, do outreach calling congregation members to check on them( this can be done by him from home if need be), not affect salary even though we are covering other things in our church during the pandemic. How do we compensate Brenda? When inviting Dean and Dwayne to come to meeting, what are we telling them? Ask Dean what he can, can't do, his capabilities? How often? Is it a sermon? Ask Dwayne who is retired his thoughts of leading services due to COVID too? A Supply pastor gets$ 200 per time for service, families pays pastor for funerals and weddings.

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Come and join us on Sunday Mornings

at 10:00 a.m. for worship inside the church.

Masks and social distancing are encouraged.

The TV in the fellowship hall will be showing the

service on Sundays during worship for the ones

who would like more distancing.

Thank you to all who have supported

Lord of Life Church financially during

these trying times. Your donations

have helped us meet our financial

commitments each month. We truly

appreciate you continued support.

We will try to do our best to keep our churches doors open to the congregation as long as we can to best of our abilities. We will follow Rapid City's guidelines and restrictions. Max will get in contact with Pastor Bruce, Dwayne Hunzeker and Dean Hedrick. 2. Include in budget next year a raise for church secretary Brenda Johnson, compensation, discuss at next meeting. Maybe compensation for staff as a whole going into next year. 3. Annual Meeting preparation- Brenda usually sends an email out to committees for their reports with a deadline on when needed 4. We are keeping things as are for now but will keep his offers on the table subject to change as per congregation. COVID throws a new twist into this and the Council may have to make changes as we move forward, at annual meeting this should be brought up to the congregation.

We closed with the Lord's Prayer at 12: 05 p.m.

Next Council Meeting Sunday, December 13 after church.

Respectfully Submitted by Stacey Biberdorf church secretary

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“Personal Care Kits” Ministry Please remember to donate the following items for this ongoing ministry sponsored by Lutheran World Relief.

• Dark Colored Bath Towel • 2 Bars of Soap (4-5 ounce bars) • Toothbrush (in original packaging) • Large Wide-toothed Comb • Nail Clipper

All these items are rolled up in the towel and sent to a Lutheran World Relief warehouse to then be delivered to people who are survivors of disasters all

over the world. Please help keep this ministry going. Thank you!

Once our receipts total $150,000, we will receive a check for $1,000 from Family Fare.

There is a wooden box in the narthex where you can put your receipts. Thank you!

If you have someone in your life who needs some extra comfort and prayers, please take a Prayer Shawl from the display in

the narthex to give to them. Everyone is welcome to do so at anytime.

For the month of December,

we are asking everyone to help

support Meals on Wheels by taking

an envelope off the Gingerbread

Tree in the church entrance.

Each envelope has an amount on it for a

donation. Keep in mind that you can go in

together with other families to make a

donation too.

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Taking Off Pounds Sensibly meets Saturday mornings

at 8:00 to 8:15 for weigh in and 8:15 to 8:45 for

meetings. All meetings take place at Lord of Life

Church. Low cost and high support!

The first meeting is free. For more information,

please contact Shelly Labine @ 484-0354.

There Will Be a Church Council meeting

on Sunday, December

right after church.

Everyone is invited to come and sit in.

Lord of Life Coffee House

When we have a “Praise and Worship Sunday”, we have our LOL Coffeehouse set up so you can get a yummy cup of gourmet coffee to go along

with your worship experience. We use the money that we receive from coffee

sales to fund various projects at church such as: shipping costs for LWR Personal Care Kits,

supplies for coffeehouse, purchasing postcards for Birthdays, food for various picnics/dinners

and printing of business cards. Thank you for supporting the LOL Coffeehouse!!

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by Dennis Green

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Confirmation Class

Fall 2020

Here is a picture of the

Confirmation Class that

Betty Woodden is leading.

The class has moved to the

Youth Room. The kids are

enjoying their new space.

Thank you to Betty,

Nancy, Emily, and

Leah for decorating

the church for the

Christmas season. It

looks beautiful in the

church.

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The Chapel in the Hills will be presenting a series of virtual Advent and Christmas services during December. Watch for a new posting every week. There will be four services led by pastors with connections to the Chapel.

In addition, there will also be various devotions, readings, and music presented by members of our Bear Butte Conference congregations and visiting

pastors posted throughout the month. So check their website and social media frequently. The schedule for

the main services is:

Week of Dec. 6: Rev. Sonja Pillman, Graceful Hills Parish (Piedmont Valley and Attonement Lutheran Churches) Week of Dec. 13: Rev. Jonathan Steiner, Rapid City, assistant to SD Bishop Bishop Constanze Hagmaier

Week of Dec. 20: Rev. Rebecca Ninke, Brooklyn Lutheran Church, Brooklyn, WI Christmas Week: Rev. Bruce Thalacker, Rapid City

Links for all services will be available on their Facebook page at: facebook.com/ChapelintheHillsSD as well as their website: www.chapel-in-the-hills.org .

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Lord of Life Lutheran Church 2000 Lancer Drive

Rapid City SD 57703

Bruce Baum - Pastor Brenda Johnson - Secretary

Church Office 393-0700

Office Hours: M-Th 9:00 am - 12:30 pm

Church Email: lordofliferc@gmail.com

Website: www.lordoflifelutheranrc.org

This is a monthly publication of Lord of Life Lutheran Church.

Serving This Month Date Acolyte Reader Usher and Greeter

10:00 a.m. Worship

Dec

6

Matt & Janyce Luebke Kurt Luebke Allen Olson

Dec

13

Roger Soucy

Edna Hedrick

Kera Miller Brad Johnson

Dec

20

Wayne & Mary Wasserburger Danielle Winger Emily Luebke

Dec

24

2:00/

5:00

Tom & Betty Woodden

Carl Walz

Dec

27

Carl & Nancy Hellekson Alyssa Miller Candy Wehrle

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