Two Options to Worship
Good Shepherd is continuing to offer in-person worship to anyone who would like to worship with us every Sunday Morning at 10:30 am. Holy Communion will also be available in person during the worship service. If you can’t meet together with us on Sunday Morning, we will continue to offer online worship on Sundays and our parking lot Holy Communion on the first and third Sundays from Noon – 1:00 pm.
Please use the following links below to connect online to the Sunday Church Service:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/goodshepherdkettering/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFjr6taytoTncrtHVY9TGQw
E-Bulletin
GSLC now has the bulletin on our website. It’s set to go live on our website under the “Worship” and the “More” menu tabs at 10:00 am on Sunday mornings. We hope this makes the worship service more meaningful to you now that you will be able to follow along.
Online Events Information
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church will be doing a Streaming Devotional with Pr. Jamie Vannoy every Wednesday at Noon. We will also be including Read Aloud Stories with Don Bennett every weekday, Monday – Friday, at 2:30 pm. Please come, connect, and enjoy.
Please use the following links below to connect:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/goodshepherdkettering/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFjr6taytoTncrtHVY9TGQw
Offerings for last week:
N/A
Advent Midweek Services
On Wednesdays from December 2, December 9, and December 16 there will be Advent Midweek Services at 7:00 pm via GSLC Facebook and Youtube channels.
Please use the following links below:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/goodshepherdkettering/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFjr6taytoTncrtHVY9TGQw
Advent Wreaths
To help us all feel connected while we are worshiping from home during Advent, GSLC thought it would be fun for us to do our own Advent Wreaths. You can use any candles you have around the house; it doesn’t matter if they match. And if you are lucky enough to have an Advent Wreath then by all means use it!! I used 4 tea light candles and one larger candle. They weren’t the right colors, but it made me feel like I was included and part of the service by doing the Advent Wreath. When they light the candles in church that will be your opportunity to light your candle at home.
Please take a photo of your wreath and email it to Don Bennett at bennett@goodshepherdkettering.com. He will create a photo gallery on our website of the photos that get sent in as another way for us to feel connected. Many Blessings to you all during this Joyous Season, Michele Weyhrauch, Worship Commissioner
Annual Poinsettia Project
To raise money for ELCA Good Gifts we are asking for donations to the Poinsettia Project. Donations can be made “in honor of” or “in memory of” in ANY amount. Order forms are available in the Narthex. If you would like to take a Poinsettia home, there will be a place on the form to check, and we will make sure enough poinsettias are purchased. All donations in honor or memory of a loved one will be acknowledged by a card on the poinsettia Tree in the Narthex and listed in an insert in the Christmas Eve bulletins. You can use an envelope from the pew and make checks to Good Shepherd Lutheran Church and indicate Poinsettia Project. All forms need to be submitted to the office by Friday, December 13.
Decorating the Sanctuary
Saturday, November 28 from 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm. We welcome anyone who would like to help decorate the sanctuary for the Advent/Christmas season. We understand that it is the Thanksgiving weekend and a lot of folks may be out of town. Any questions please feel free to contact Michele Weyhrauch at 937-510-4264.
Medicine Bottle Update
Paula took 391 prescription bottles and 87 non-prescription bottles to Matthew 25 Ministries last week. These bottles will be used on mission trips to supply people with desperately needed medicine. Please continue to save your bottles and place them in the marked tub in the narthex, remembering the guidelines:
- Remove all labels and all glue (“Goo Gone” -found at automotive stores- works great for this.)
- Wash in hot water and dry, being sure to clean the dust from the inside as well.
- Replace bottle caps.
*Thank you for your partnership in this important ministry.
Food Pantry News
Our November 3, Good Shepherd delivery of 270 food items to the Greenmont-Oak Park-Ascension Neighbor to Neighbor Food Pantry was greatly appreciated. Many thanks to the Good Shepherd members and our generous neighbors for continuing donations each month. With Congress and the President currently unable to reach an agreement on economic assistance for pandemic victims our donations now are more important than ever. As you are doing your grocery shopping, please remember the food pantry recipients for these life-sustaining gifts. If you prefer, you can send a check, (payable to Good Shepherd and marked for food pantry) to the office. You can drop off food or checks during the week by ringing the fellowship hall entry bell and placing items in the donation box immediately inside the door or you can bring them to church on Sunday if you choose to attend in-person worship at 10:30 am.
Need a Treasurer
Denise Wilson resigned from being Treasurer after serving faithful and we are in need of a Treasurer. Please pray that we fill this crucial position on the Council will be filled quickly. If you are interested in knowing more information about the position feel free to call the Church Office and ask to speak to Pr. Jamie.
Live Streaming
Our Audio Visual team has been working hard getting our live streaming capabilities up and running. They are now in need of folks to train. If you are willing to help and love being able to volunteer you are the ones we want. The more volunteers we have the less times you have to do it per month. We will be streaming one service a week and it will be a rotating schedule. Don has assured me it is not difficult, you just have to be able to pay attention!! Please, if you are on the fence about this come and see what it is all about. In other words, no obligation, try before you “buy” in. Any questions contact Don Bennett at don.bennet@goodshepherdkettering.com or call the church at 9237-298-0136. ~ Michele Weyhrauch, Worship Commissioner
Lifelong Learning
Our ADULT Lifelong Learning Classes are ONLINE! Everyone is welcome! Please contact the church office for the links below to join in the conversations. This is a great time to “zoom” in and discover the quality adult education we have at GSLC. Our Bible studies are open to ALL online. If you haven’t checked any of these out, please consider joining the conversations.
Our YOUTH classes (Kindergarten – 6th grade) are resuming. The WHIRL curriculum is based on the weekly lectionary for the church year that allows our students to connect what they learn in class with what they hear in worship. Karin Linch and Sandy Rosholt are the teachers for our youth classes.
CATECHISM is being offered online this year. Catechism is for our 6th, 7th, and 8th graders in preparation for confirmation, affirming the baptismal promises. If you have an interest in our studies of the Bible, Luther’s Small Catechism, and Lutheran heritage, please contact the church office for more information. Pastor Jamie and Don Bennett teach our catechism classes
SATURDAY MORNING BREAKFAST BIBLE STUDY
No Bible Study session on Saturday, November 28.
This group resumes on Saturday, December 5th.
SUNDAY MORNING ADULT BIBLE STUDY
Topic: ACTS of the Apostles: a Biblical study on The Book of ACTS!
Facilitator: Roger Bauser
Time: 9:00 am – 10:00 am
Place: Comfort of your home – connect online!
Bring your coffee. Have your Bible handy. COME BE RENEWED by the power of the Holy Spirit! COME LISTEN to God speak to each of us through the Book of ACTS. This week read and ponder Acts chapters 11-12.Hear more of the reaction to the baptizing of Cornelius and his household, the experiences of Barnabas and Saul at the church in Antioch, and Herod’s imprisonment of Peter. Being a disciple was not for the faint of heart. If you experience any difficulty connecting, please contact Roger at rebauser@me.com or call 937-299-5186.
THURSDAY MORNING BIBLE STUDY for Men
This study resumes on December 3rd.
Topic: Lectionary for Sunday worship
Facilitator: Roger Bauser
Time: 9:00 am – 10:00 am
Place: comfort of your home – connect online!
The Men’s breakfast Bible Study is ONLINE on Thursday mornings at 9:00 a.m. Bring your own coffee and breakfast along with your BIBLE.
The focus is on the Lectionary Lessons for the upcoming Sunday. Come join the discussion facilitated by Roger Bauser. Use the following link to join the conversation. If you experience any difficulty, please contact Roger at rebauser@me.com or call 937-299-5186.
AmazonSmile
In 2018, we received $15.95 in donations from AmazonSmile. In 2019 we received $19.64. Would you like to help go over those amounts for 2020? It’s easy to do. Go to our website for Youth Donations, https://goodshepherdkettering.com/youth-donations/, scroll down and you will see a little graphic labeled amazonsmile. Click on that and follow the directions. Once you’ve done that, instead of going to amazon.com to make an online purchase, go to smile.amazon.com and for every purchase you make, we will get 0.5% of that price donated to us. It’s still Amazon, with all the features of the normal site, we just get a small cut. Over time those 0.5% donations add up. Please consider supporting us in this way. The proceeds go to help with youth events. If you have any questions, please contact Don Bennett.
GSLC Lutheran Youth Corps (LYC)
Gift Card Program Did you know there is a way that you can financially support Good Shepherd at no cost to you? Through the LYC, you can order gift cards from a variety of merchants and restaurants at face value and a portion of each purchase is donated to the church to support youth programs and the First Lutheran Breakfasts. Although the percentage donated to the church may seem small, a few percent of our collective purchases can add up to a significant donation to Good Shepherd over time. Order forms are available in the Narthex. Orders placed on the weekend are normally available for pick up the following week, with the exception of some holiday periods and weeks where we do not reach the minimum threshold for placing an order. Please contact Don Bennett if you have any questions. What a great way to be faithful stewards of our resources!
Electronic Giving
Don’t forget to send in your weekly tithe/offering to the church at 901 East Stroop Rd, Kettering, OH 45429 or go to our online Electronic Giving:
Electronic Giving Good Shepherd Lutheran Church is now offering the option of electronic giving for regular offerings and special offerings. Giving is done using the company Tithe.ly which is the only one endorsed by the ELCA. There are three ways to give:
1. Via smartphone using the Tithe.ly app (download via the App Store or Google Play)
2. Online at https://tithe.ly/give?c=329631
3. Via the GSLC Website which has a link to the Tithe.ly website to give directly to GSLC
The process to create an account and give is simple because it is tied to a debit or credit card. There is also a processing fee of less than 3% that you can choose to cover if desired. Benefits of Electronic Giving:
1. Ability to give from anywhere including other countries – you only need an internet connection via smartphone or computer.
2. Ability to give 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
3. Ability to choose from a variety of options where your gift goes.
4. Can give more than one gift at a time with the “Add Gift” option.
Questions: Contact Martin Pierce (937) 287-4021 or Denise Wilson (513) 913-0133.
This Week’s Article
This week’s article is by William Willimon @ Ministry Maters.
The gospel for this opening of Advent is Mark’s “Little Apocalypse.” Dare we preach apocalyptic to today’s Christians? The lectionary invites us to do so.
The disciples are awed by the size and beauty of the Jerusalem temple. “Teacher, look! What awesome stones and buildings!” (13:1). Jesus’s response? He predicts the coming destruction of the temple (13:2). Not only will the grand temple be torn down but there will also be tribulations like false messiahs and false prophets (13:14-23).
These words of warning occur just before the Passion Narrative (14:1-15:47). With the temple torn down, where will we find God? The answer, of course, is not in the glorious temple but on the cross. Not in the city proper but outside the city walls. Not in the center of power and authority but in the wilderness. Mark’s primary theological question makes a good Advent question. Where will we look for God this Advent season?
To some commentators, the entire thirteenth chapter of Mark’s Gospel gives conflicting messages about Christ’s return, the end of the world, and the coming apocalypse. Some think that Mark cobbled this section together from two “apocalyptic tracts” that shared an apocalyptic vision but with competing ideas about the significance of the apocalypse. Mark 13:1-2, 8, 14-22, 24-30 urges early Christians to get ready for a soon-to-come apocalypse. But Mark 13:3-7, 9-13, 21-23, 32-37 seems to urge Christians to dig in and be faithful for the long haul.
Whether or not Mark just stitched these two competing themes together, what this section gives us is a paradoxical read of the apocalypse. We don’t have to worry ourselves about whether or not the end is near or far from us. The main thing is to ask ourselves the immediate question: What does the notion of the end, an end of our history, the advent of God mean for us here and now?
A related question: Will we be prepared for the God we might find? Jesus warns his disciples that not all “Messiahs” are true. While they may do the same works that he does, these deliverers are false (13:21-22). How can we tell a false messiah from the true Messiah? Jesus urges us to “be alert” (13:23), “keep awake” (13:37). We must not only be watchful but we must also be discerning during these times. We must keep alert, not simply for the coming of God but also for the sort of God who comes to us. Keep alert because a God is coming whom we might not have expected. Lest we be tempted to sugarcoat and sentimentalize God’s advent among us, the lectionary wisely gives us this Sunday’s apocalyptic gospel.
Apocalyptic literature is not meant to be threatening about the future; it’s meant to be encouraging and hopeful in the present. Jesus is giving pastoral care to those who are fearful about cataclysmic events in the present. The beloved temple will be destroyed but perhaps that destruction can make way for a new and different kind of divine presence. God will be with us but in a way other than at the temple. A cruel cross will be not the end but God’s way with us. A little baby will be God with us.
Just in case there are those who want to become sentimental about Advent-Christmas, Mark gives us these rather dark, apocalyptic warnings. The flowers wilt, the grass withers, kingdoms topple, and our great and glorious temples are torn down, stone from stone.
God is coming. God has chosen to enter history, our history in order to turn our history toward God’s ends. Things could get bumpy along the way. God refuses to be aloof in heaven on high but gets down and dirty with us right here where we live.
Good news or bad? That may depend on where you happen to be standing when you get this world-changing, heaven and earth disrupting news.
In today’s proclamation, I propose that we preachers risk being ironic, even somewhat humorous in getting our congregations to think about themselves, their avoidance of biblical literature like this Sunday’s Advent gospel, and their own need for divine, earth-shaking redemption.
ELCA NEWS:
ELCA Disability Ministry God’s work. Our hands. Click here.
NEW Lutheran World Relief Sustainable Development. Click here.
NEW ELCA Global Links. Click here.
Community News:
We Care Arts 2020 Cookie Walk- Call for Bakers!
We Care Arts is beginning to prepare for their 9th Annual Cookie Walk (sponsored by Day Air Credit Union), but it’s going to look just a little different this year! Their Cookie Walk will be a drive-through pick-up for 2020. They will have a cookie pre-order available online beginning on November 2 and pick up will be Saturday, December 5 from 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. in the We Care Arts back parking lot. https://one.bidpal.net/cookiewalk/welcome
HERE’S HOW YOU CAN HELP!
• Bake and donate your favorite holiday treats! During the holidays, it’s those “special” treats that we all love! The more unique or cleverly decorated, the better!
• Buy cookies! Donate a few dozen and place an order online for cookies for your family to enjoy. Tell your friends too!
• Volunteer: They need folks to help them to box cookie orders on the Friday before, and they’ll need “cookie runners” throughout the day on Saturday in the back parking lot.
You may deliver cookies in a sturdy container to We Care Arts on Friday, December 4 between 10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. to 3035 Wilmington Pike, Kettering, OH 45429. Thank you for your support of We Care Arts! Please find in the attachment their 2020 Cookie Walk Donation Guidelines for your review.