As We Gather
A new year begins! Yet, often so little changes. For most, a new year means little difference regarding life, vocation, house, and home. Outside of annually changing one number on our calendar, much of life remains the same, including the daily battles we face against Satan, sin, and our own flesh. With that, we rejoice today not just in the year’s changing, but a daily changing we recognize every day as we live in this world through the blameless One born for us. Christ was under and has fulfilled God’s Law perfectly for us, even as an infant child brought to the temple for circumcision under Mosaic Law. It would mark both the promise of redemption and the burden of the Law—and with Jesus marking the sacrifice that would set us free. Try as we might with new year’s resolutions to become better people, we still find ourselves falling short of God’s moral law that remains today. Rejoice in the newness that has come! More than a new year, we are given a new life, for Christ has fulfilled all and set us free! As we are marked in Baptism and bear Christ’s name, we become inheritors of His promise. It is a newness to celebrate each day of every year!
Holy Communion
The Lord’s Supper is celebrated today with the confession that we receive the true body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, in, with and under (a way of saying that Christ is fully present in) the bread and wine. Christ's presence gives us the assurance that our sins are forgiven and to nourish our faith. This is a solemn celebration, “For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves” (1Corinthians 11:29). The Lord’s Supper is meant for our good, not to our judgment. But, before presenting yourself ask these questions:
1. Am I sorry for my sins and need forgiveness?
2. Did Christ die and rise to forgive my sins?
3. Am I receiving the very body and blood of Christ Jesus?
If your answers are yes, you are welcome. If you are not a member of a LCMS church, or have further questions about The Lord’s Supper, please speak with the pastor.
Stewardship
Luke 2:49 – “And he said to them, ‘Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?’ ”
What a privilege the Lord has given to us by calling us to come to His house! It is not a burden but rather an honor and a blessing for us to always be able to come to a place where we know God is present for us in His gifts of Word and Sacrament. Likewise, the Lord has honored us by allowing us to support the work of His house with our tithes and offerings.
Lutherans For Life
“As this New Year begins and you make resolutions of things to do for yourself, consider ways in which you could spend one hour a week helping someone in need—at a crisis pregnancy center, a hospice house, a nursing home, etc.” Rev. Scott Licht, National Director of Lutherans For Life – A Life Quote from Lutherans For Life • www.lutheransforlife.org
Altar Flowers
The Altar Flower Chart is posted on the bulletin board in the Narthex by the drinking fountains. Check chart for donation opportunities and availability.
Children Sunday School
Flower Chart
A new Altar Flower Calendar is posted on the bulletin board in the Narthex by the drinking fountains. January dates are available, and each arrangement costs $25.00. If you would like to take home your donated altar flowers after the worship service, please circle your name on the calendar. Thank you for helping to beautify our sanctuary.
Military Love & Care Bags
As a church community grounded in compassion and service, we have a special opportunity to come together and make a real difference in the lives of local military families who are facing financial hardship. For the month of November, we are requesting baby formula. Monetary donations are also welcome.
Mite Boxes
LWML mite offerings have made a significant impact in ministry by funding hundreds of mission grants that spread the Gospel and serve communities worldwide. Some examples of the good they've done include: Building churches, schools, and seminaries in underserved regions. Supporting missionaries in the U.S. and abroad. Translating Bibles and Christian resources into multiple languages. Providing disaster relief, clean water, food, and medical aid. Equipping pastors, and church workers through scholarships and training. Launching outreach programs for at-risk children, refugees, the homeless, and the imprisoned. Through these grants, LWML mites bring the love of Christ to people in both word and action, transforming lives and strengthening the church around the world.
Smokes and Jokes, a Christian Fellowship
Enjoy an evening of conversation and light refreshments as we relax together, share stories, and encourage one another in faith and friendship. Feel free to bring a snack or a joke to share, and come ready for a warm, casual time among friends. If you’d like to join, please contact Pastor Klemme directly.
Youth Group
Properties Board Meeting
For the maintenance and repair of the congregation’s facilities; to enable the congregation and its members to carry out our Christ centered ministries. Meets in the Library. For more information contact Jeff Adams
The Way Cafe
An in-person devotion with Pastor Eric Klemme, designed to strengthen your relationship with God through Scripture, song, prayer, fellowship, and biblical insight. The devotion returns on Tuesday, 6 January, the Day of Epiphany, and resumes its regular Wednesday schedule the following week. Come and be replenished, renewed, and fueled to live a life of faith. You are welcome just as you are. God is here, ready to meet you and connect with you in a fresh way.
Board of Elders Meeting
Meeting with the Called Ministers and the Board of Elders to discuss, plan, and implement strategies to carry out corporate worship, and addressing the spiritual health of the congregation.
For more information contact Joe Staton
Sharing and Caring
A ministry supported by our congregation through donations of non-perishable food items, placed in the collection basket in the inner Narthex. Sharing and Caring serves individuals and families in need by providing food, clothing, and emergency assistance. It brings hope, encouragement, and practical support to those experiencing hardship or crisis.
Board Of Outreach Meeting
Philemon 4-6. The Board of Outreach has a two fold mission: To Communicate the Gospel of Christ through the members of our congregation and in the endeavor to identify the congregation with the Gospel in the local community. Meets with Pastor Klemme in the Cafe.
American Heritage Girls Troop 1517
Vision
"Having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints." - Ephesians 1:18
As an American Heritage Girl, I promise to be compassionate, helpful, honest, loyal, perseverant, pure, resourceful, respectful, responsible, and reverent.
For more information contact Adrienne Cook.
Council Meeting
Let us do everything with love. The Church Council is a gathering of elected advisers who serve and guide the ministries of the congregation toward our given mission. (Matthew 28:19-20). We meet in the library.
Benevolence
Luther once wrote, “A man is placed between God and his neighbor as a medium which receives from above and gives out again below, and is like a vessel or tube through which the stream of divine blessings must flow without intermission to other people.” The people we help through the benevolence fund find themselves in difficult financial circumstances. Please consider contributing to our benevolence fund. (Online to donate: https://www.shalimar.church/human-care)
Marionette Puppets
In an extraordinary lesson of forgiveness there once was a man who could do nothing for himself and was dependent on his friends. Some saw this as God’s judgment upon him. Jesus forgives him of his sins to the astonishment of the teachers of the Law. And then, Jesus heals him.
Circumcision of our Lord
Jesus Blesses Us with His Name and Saves Us with His Blood
Our newborn God keeps the Law for us and brings Abraham’s promises to their fulfillment when He is circumcised. It is there that the name above all names is “bestowed on him” (Philippians 2:9), “the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb”: Jesus, which means “the Lord saves” (Luke 2:21). He sheds the first drops of His precious blood in accordance with this name and in anticipation of His cross, “for he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). The law’s captivity gives way to the freedom of faith in Christ Jesus, who cuts a new covenant in His blood to be received by faith, whether male or female, Jew or Greek (Galatians 3:23-28). His name is given to us in Holy Baptism, and we are made sons of God and “heirs according to promise,” true offspring of Abraham by faith (Galatians 3:29). Eight days after the celebration of our Lord’s birth, a new “Year of our Lord” is begun in Jesus’ holy name and with His benediction. Jesus is the Lord, and by this name we are blessed (Numbers 6:22-27).
Family Life Minister Curtis' Anniversary (17)
With gratitude and joy we give thanks this day for Family Life Minister Curtis who was commissioned into public ministry at Christ Lutheran Church, Topeka Kansas in 2004. We thank the Lord for the work of commissioned ministers who assist & support the congregation and the Pastoral Office. God has given his Church ministers who nourish Christ's people with the teaching of His Word. We praise God that He has permitted His servant Curtis to work in His Church and blessed Curtis’ ministry among us.
Curtis has served God through a Call from Good Shepherd since 2009 as our Family Life Minister. Curtis is a certified Directory of Christian Education (DCE) who has a degree in Theology from Concordia University, Seward Nebraska.
Commemoration of J. K. Wilhelm Loehe, Pastor
The Church honor's saints for using their gifts for the Kingdom of God. In so doing, it strengths faith insofar as it demonstrates God's Grace. The inspiration that the Saints offers is in showing us how living out our faith can be done.
“Although he never left Germany, Johann Konrad Wilhelm Loehe, born in Fuerth in 1808, had a profound impact on the development of Lutheranism in North America. Serving as pastor in the Bavarian village of Neuendettelsau, he recognized the need for workers in developing lands and assisted in training emergency helpers to be sent as missionary pastors to North America, Brazil, and Australia. A number of the men he sent to the United States became founders of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Through his financial support, a theological school was established in Fort Wayne, Ind., and a teachers' institute in Saginaw, Mich. Loehe was known for his confessional integrity and his interest in liturgy and catechetics. His devotion to works of Christian charity led to the establishment of a deaconess training house and homes for the aged.
Source: LCMS Calendar of Commemorations
Commemoration of Basil the Great of Caesarea, Gregory of Nazianzus, Gregory of Nyssa
The Church honor's saints for showing us how living out faith can be done.
Basil and the two Gregorys, collectively known as the Cappadocian Fathers, were leaders of Christian orthodoxy in Asia Minor (modern Turkey) in the later fourth century. Basil and Gregory of Nyssa were brothers; Gregory of Nazianzus was their friend. All three were influential in shaping the theology ratified by the Council of Constantinople of 381, which is expressed in the Nicene Creed. Their defense of the doctrines of the Holy Spirit and Holy Trinity, together with their contributions to the liturgy of the Eastern Church, make them among the most influential Christian teachers and theologians of their time.
Source: LCMS Calendar of Commemorations.