A Good Christmas

Emma, my 13 year old granddaughter, is sure that this is going to be a terrible Christmas! Last year was a good Christmas, according to her. What’s the difference? Last year we had a small mob scene with four kids, two in-laws, and six grandchildren to fill the house and to supply excitement. This year no one is coming home so it will be the usual four of us. “We are always together, so there will be nothing to talk about!” said Emma. Add to the population drop in our household the fact that I’ll be here and they will be there and you have the picture of a “terrible Christmas” for this year.

We’ve promised to have a long talk about it very soon. The question is what we can do to make this a good Christmas. That kind of conversation might be a good thing to have in every home! In our case, the question is, what can the four of us do to make this a special year? Emma’s first thought was to go on a cruise! That would be simply avoiding the issue. What makes a good Christmas?

A good place to start is that it is Jesus’ birthday we celebrate. This is more than just observing all the traditions. What would Jesus do? How can we focus on Him and on being His followers? Worship is certainly at the center of a good Christmas. We can begin there. Check Our Savior’s full and rich schedule of Advent and Christmas services!

It is also a time when we have very personal hopes and wishes. We might ask the other members of our family what their hopes are—and be willing to share ours, and I mean beyond gift suggestions. I think that if we focus on the needs of those who are dear to us and then work our way out of the inner circle, we would be on our way to a good Christmas.

At this point, I can only pray for us and for you, that all of us, by the blessing of God, the power of the Holy Spirit, and the cooperation of all, have a very good Christmas!

Richard Brewer, Interim Pastor

Does God use “just-in-time delivery” to accomplish His agenda for us? Just-in-time delivery means that things arrive right when they are needed (like parts delivered to a project), not too early, and not too late. God sent His son into the world at just the right time (Gal 4:4), which is just-in-time delivery writ large. We celebrate the ultimate pivot point of history every year during this season. At the other end of the people scale God comes to each of us at just the right time to meet our individual needs. This is just-in-time delivery on a personal level. He also uses just-in-time delivery to meet our congregation’s needs, and He will give us a new Senior Pastor at just the right time.

One of our Critical Targets this year is the “Installation, and complete assimilation, of a new Pastor into Our Savior Lutheran Ministries by May 1, 2006.” Two candidates have declined our call thus far, so we are still waiting for God’s just-in-time delivery of a new Senior Pastor. However, we are working as we wait: the Call Committee has begun a new phase of seeking God’s direction and doing spadework to develop options for our next Senior Pastor call meeting.

Our original list of candidate pastors is at least eight months old, and circumstances have changed for some of the pastors that we have been considering. Some candidates that were not available may now be open to consider our call, and some who were available may have taken a call elsewhere. We have also learned from each interaction with the candidate pastors, and God has used the call process to teach us about OSLM and His love for our congregation.

The Call Committee is working with Pastor Bob Newton, District President, to bring our list of candidate pastors up to date. Then we will sift and prioritize the available candidates and conduct telephone interviews with the candidates that best match OSLM needs and opportunities. Call Committee members include Mark Buntjer, Dennis Dirks, Laura Gong, Roger Kinter, Alex Parks, Sylvette Phillips, Karen Poppe, Gloria Streufert, Aline Tewes, Don Young, and Jesse Yow. Please continue to pray for the Call Committee in their work on behalf of the congregation, for the new Senior Pastor that God will bring us, and for the steps that we must take to get there from here. Please also continue to pray for Pastor Brewer and the rest of our ministry team as we move forward in the work that God has given OSLM.

God will use just-in-time delivery to provide us with exactly the right new Senior Pastor at just the right time. When He does, He will refresh us with new challenges, opportunities, and blessings. Just in time!

We Give God the Glory for:

• Our teachers and chaperones at Yosemite with our 7th graders. They are: Fred Brauer, Lauren Bortnem, Eric Carlo, Rick Gonzales, Gina Huggins, Marianne Knowlton, Rob Managan, Carlyne Schultz, and Doug Wright.
• Our teachers and chaperones at Catalina with our 8th graders. They are: Forrest Adams, Brett Bortnem, Carla Boerman, Lance Chapman, Mike Martin, Jennifer Mayo, Natalie McDonald, Valerie Morrow, and Beth Zampetti.
• Our students who brought in over 400 pounds of soup in the first week of our chapel’s “Souper Challenge.” We are asking students to bring cans or boxes of soup for the local food shelves. The challenge will continue through December. [Anyone who wishes to help can bring cans of soup to the Loaves and Fishes Bin located in the gym].
• Our students, who collected $2000 in their chapel offerings for Katrina relief. This money was sent to Lutheran World Relief to help rebuild Lutheran schools affected by Katrina.
• Our parents who attended our Parent Teacher Conferences. We are also thankful for our teachers who put in long days during these conferences.
• Debbie Bertoilino for her work on the Entertainment book fundraiser (where we raised over $12,000) and for her organizing the Fall Fun Fest (she even arranged for good weather this year!).
• Our cheerleaders and their coaches – Laura Cortez and Lauren Bortnem – for their support of our school and teams.

Nativity Scenes - Find and dust off those beautiful nativity sets you have stored away. OSLS students, their families, and OSLM church members are invited to bring their nativity scenes to share with others during the Advent season. We will display the crèches along the back windows of the church sanctuary. We hope to see many different cultures and countries represented from around the world. No nativity scene will be turned away. If it has special meaning for you, it will be wonderful to share. They will be on display at the back of the sanctuary from November 28th through December 11th for you to enjoy.

Accreditation Progress – Our Accreditation Team is moving along strongly. We are planning to have the final visitation for accreditation completed in the spring of 2007. It may sound like a long time off, but it is much closer than you might think! We will be getting our focus groups started shortly after January 1st. You might get tapped on the shoulder and asked to help as we evaluate our school’s progress. As a reminder, our school ESLR’s (Expected School-wide Learning Results) are:

• Kids of the King walk like Jesus.
• Kids of the King are avid learners.
• Kids of the King develop important life skills.
• Kids of the King enhance their lives with enriching activities.

Teachers at CAPSO – Faculty members of the preschool and K-8 school attended the CAPSO (California Association of Private School Organizations) Conference on November 20-22 held at Long Beach. OSLS joined about 3000 teachers in this year’s teacher conference.

OPEN HOUSES COMING! While you may not be thinking about it quite yet, it is the time for us to begin developing plans for next fall’s (2006) enrollment. We will be conducting several Open Houses for new students, continuing students, area preschools, etc. The first of the open houses will begin in January! If you know students who may be interested in attending OSLS, these open houses may be the best place to get information about our school. We will keep you informed of the times and dates!

Click on www.osyouth.com for information about upcoming Youth Events!

Go to www.osyouth.com for all the Youth Ministry information!

Women's Ministry

The Wednesday Evening Women’s Bible Study group will meet not be meeting during Advent. The group will resume on January 11, 2006.

Men's Ministry

• Men’s Breakfast Bible Study will take place on Fridays at 6:30 a.m., December 2, 9, and 16 at Baker’s Square, 1116 Stanley Boulevard, in Livermore. The topic is “Men of the Bible: Peter.”
• Men’s Open Gym Basketball on Mondays from 7:30—9:00 p.m. Come out and enjoy some good competition and fellowship.

Young Adult Ministry

• December 6, 7 p.m.: Dinner and Devotions at the Bortnem Home
• December 18, 6 p.m.: Christmas Party. (Location TBD.)
• December 20, 8 p.m.: Fellowship at Fuddrucker's in Dublin

Ongoing Events

• Blood Pressure Monitoring will be offered in the Family Room after the worship service on the first and third Sundays of each month.
• Pinochle Club—This group meets on the second Tuesday evening of the month. Everyone is invited to come out for a game of cards on Tuesday, December 13 from 7—9 p.m. in Room 18. Come and join in the fun!
• Christian Reading Club will meet on December 20 at 7 p.m. in Room 8. The book is The Case for Christmas by Lee Strobel, Copyright © 1998, 2005, ISBN #0-310-25476-0. Join us!

Upcoming Events

• Advent Services will be held at 7 p.m. in the sanctuary on Wednesdays, December 7, 14, and 21.
• Crab Feed, February 4, 2006, 6 p.m. in the gym. Volunteers are needed to help with this event. Please contact the church office if you are interested in helping, 447-1246.
• Women's Retreat, February 10-12, 2006 at Villa Maria Del Mar in Santa Cruz. Registration forms are available in the church office.

We’re not talking about one of those restaurants with a Wurlitzer organ for entertainment, but rather your “pipes” will provide the music! Come to the annual Christmas caroling party at Our Savior on Sunday, December 18, from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. We’ll start with a quick pizza supper (bring a few $$ to help defray the cost). Then we will split into several groups to spread a little Christmas joy to those who are home-bound or who need a little boost from their friends at Our Savior this Christmas. Taking time from our own family preparations to share with others can be one of the more meaningful events of the Christmas season!

This event is for everyone – families, singles, youth, friends! You don’t need to be a choir member or consider yourself a good singer – what’s important is your willingness to share your time and the Christmas message in song! If you’d like, bring some Christmas baked goods to share with those we visit; it is always fun to be able to deliver something extra with our music. If you have questions, call Christa Even at 447-1246, ext. 231.

“Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.” Luke 2:10-11

Wow! Can you even imagine it—the sky filled with lights and hearing the news of Jesus?! These words really touched me this year: “Do not be afraid.” I need to slow down and not be afraid if that perfect gift is found,” for unto me is born this day a Savior.” I need to not be afraid if every light is not up the day after Thanksgiving, “for unto me this day is born a Savior.” I need not be afraid if all the cookies are not made perfect on the day that I want them to be made, “for unto me this day is born a Savior.” I need not be afraid if the house is not perfectly clean when the family comes, “for unto me this day is born a Savior.” We need not be afraid or stressed this holiday season because what it is all about is a Savior who was born to you and to me that wonderful Christmas so long ago.

We had a wonderful month of November in the ECDC, as our building filled with smells of bread. We gave thanks to the Lord for His wonderful gifts and enjoyed an old fashion Thanksgiving Feast with all the classes joining together. We even had Kindergarten join us in the afternoon with our Pre-K Plus class as they celebrated giving together.

December is filled with much joy as our hearts are filled with the love of Christmas. What a joy and a privilege to be able to share the true meaning of Christmas here at our school. We will be decorating Christmas trees, hearing the story of the shepherds and the angels, and joining Mary and Joseph at the manger. We will be sharing the Christmas story with our families at our Christmas Chapels held in the Sanctuary on Thursday and Friday mornings at 10:30 and Thursday, December 15th at 1 p.m. If you are out and about, we would love to have you join us!

Please click here for the Financial Report for October and also the Fiscal Year Report for July 2005 to October 2005.

The mission pledge is current and all expenses have been paid.

Income and general giving is right on plan – thank you very much – while expenses are under plan due to:

• No mortgage payment due in July of $43,220
• Contingency/benefits/salary/facility costs under projected plan

Balances in our various checking, savings and stock accounts total $626,973 which includes $143,621 for the Ministry Center. The pledges for the Ministry Center totaled $137,248.

Pledges for the continuation program totalled $706,284 of which $515,769 has been received. Monthly pledges needed to make the mortgage payment are $22,000. In October we received $22,724.

Discipleship Component #4 = Practice

We continue with our series on the key components of discipleship as discovered by noted church researcher, George Barna, with this month’s topic on the subject of practice.

You know the old joke: The young man with a violin hurriedly gets into a cab in New York and exclaims, “how do I get to Carnegie Hall?” The cabby calmly replies, “Practice, young man, practice.” The point is clear: you can't just want to be a great musician. You have to work at it, over and over.

This component of discipleship, practice, takes into consideration all knowledge that individuals possess, all the emotional commitment that a person can muster, along with spiritual insight that is given to them via the Holy Spirit and says, “do something!” At some point in the walk of faith of all of God’s disciples, you and I can no longer just stand there, or delve into deeper study, or try to develop a specialized skill— we have to do something. We need to put our faith into action. We need to practice what we have heard preached. We need to walk the walk! We don’t do this to prove our faith or validate it, but we do it to let God’s plan unfold in our life, to be used as a tool of ministry in the lives of others.

The most asked Lutheran question is: “What does this mean?” This a great question for us to focus on as we seek to understand more about our faith. There is also a second question that Luther often uses to follow up on “What does this mean?” This is a question of practice and action. Luther asks, “How is this done?” Luther clearly sees the two fold aspect of faith—belief and action. Yes, we need to understand what we believe, we need to continue to grow and study, and gain insight—and we also need to put on the sandals of a servant, and go out and put faith into action!

So, don’t just sit here—do something! Do something now! Do something new, now! Everyday we do a number of “things.” Some of us even write them down on a “things to do” list! I would think it’s appropriate to have a spiritual "things to do list"--it might include: volunteering to help out at church, taking a meal to a needy family, helping out in a soup kitchen, serving as a driver for an elderly person who needs to get to an appointment, reading a story to children in our school here at Our Savior, and oh, so much more! That’s what is exciting about faith in action—with God, nothing is impossible!

If you need further ideas, or want something to do--- call us in the church office, 447-1246!

The Liturgical Arts Committee has plans underway to decorate the sanctuary for Christmas, but these plans require help from many people. There will be several opportunities to contribute your time and energy, and we would love to have anyone help, from junior high age students through senior citizens! The first assembling/decorating opportunity is on Saturday, December 10, from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Meet in the sanctuary and we will put you to work!

The other day set aside for this project is Saturday, December 17. We will be working from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m., and may also need help from 12:00 to 1:30 p.m., following the Sunday School rehearsal. Please check your calendar, and if you have an hour or two you could donate on either of these day, let Christa Even know at 447-1246, ext. 231 – or just come! Refreshments will be available on both days.

Set aside a little time on your calendar NOW, (Sunday, December 11, 4 p.m. in the Sanctuary) because this concert is for you! The various musical groups of Our Savior have been hard at work preparing music to encourage, uplift and even delight you, as well as to give thanks to God for the gift of Christ Jesus at Christmas. We will give God praise with handbells, strings, brass, piano, organ and our choirs. There will also be moments for the audience to sing some favorite carols!

In addition, we will have a freewill offering for the Bokenkamp Children’s Center in Corpus Christi, Texas. They are housing Katrina evacuees from the Bethlehem Children’s center in New Orleans.

After the concert, enjoy some Christmas refreshments and an opportunity for fellowship in the gym.

A special word of thanks this month to the Altar Guild members, for their faithful preparation of the altar for Communion each week, and for looking after all of the robes used in worship services.

Thanks to teachers and students of our school for their planning and participation in the Wednesday night Advent services – especially Linda Greenhagen, Lauren Bortnem, Sarah Handrock, and Christine Townsend. Thanks also to Sara Hall for coordinating the Sunday School Service.

A campaign encouraging people to enter an emergency contact number in their cell phone’s memory under the heading “ICE” (In Case of Emergency) has rapidly spread throughout the world as a particular consequence of the recent terrorist attacks in London. Originally established as a nationwide campaign in the United Kingdom, ICE allows paramedics or police to contact a designated relative or next-of-kin in an emergency situation.

By adopting the ICE advice, an individual’s cell phone will help emergency personnel quickly contact a friend or relative—which could be vital in a life-or- death situation. It only takes a few seconds to do, and it could easily help save a life. Why not put ICE in your cell phone now? In your phone book or contacts list, type the acronym “ICE” and the telephone number of the person you wish to be contacted.

For more information type "ICE In Case of Emergency" in the address line of your WEB screen.

Years ago Our Savior Lutheran Church had the tradition of taking a loaf of “homemade bread” to the home of those who visited with us in church on a Sunday. This visit was usually made on a Monday or Tuesday with the hope of developing a positive connection with these visitors, and with the hope that they would return to join us in worship in the near future.

In January of ’06, Our Savior will begin a similar program of responding to our Sunday morning visitors which will be called, Bread Makers and Bread Takers. The idea is similar: Take a gift of homemade bread to a new Sunday visitor—this time we’ll add a package of dry soup—and leave it as a thank you gift along with information about Our Savior Lutheran Ministries.

We need two kinds of volunteers for this outreach effort:

1. Bread Makers—those who would make a loaf of “homemade bread” (Bread machines are OK) and have it delivered to the church office by 2 p.m. on Mondays.
2. Bread Takers—members of our church who would take the loaf of bread along with the dry soup, all in a special bag to the home of our recent Sunday visitors between the hours of 3 and 6 p.m. Address and directions will be provided by the church office.

We anticipate that we would need 2-3 Bread Makers per week and 2-3 Bread Takers per week, and you can do both jobs if you want! If we get a number of folks to sign up, you would do it perhaps once or twice a month. At this time we average around 2-3 first time visitors each week.

To sign up, or to ask for more info, please contact Steve Christopher in the church office, 447-1246, ext. 228, to serve in one of these ways—or both!

Feeling overwhelmed at times? Getting close to burn- out? Maybe you’ve been there and don’t want to go back! This class will examine seven focus points for families to address that will hopefully keep you and your family from the throes of burning out. The schedule of topics will be:

• Dec. 4: The Sacred Rhythm of Rest
• Dec. 11: Having it All
• Dec. 18: Doing More with Less
• Dec. 25: No Class—Christmas
• Jan. 1: No Class—New Years Day
• Jan. 8: Keeping Your Balance
• Jan. 15: Turn Off and Tune In
• Jan. 22: Encouragement for Today
• Jan. 29: The Right Response

The class will meet in Room 18, from 10:30— 11:30 a.m. with Steve Christopher, Director of Discipleship, serving as the instructor.

Would you prayerfully consider helping in our 1st/2nd Grade Sunday School class? We are looking for an assistant who attends regularly, but no class preparation will be required. We also need substitute teachers for our on-call sub list. Please call the church office if you are interested, 447-1246.

Our Savior Lutheran Ministries is a Christian Community--

• Rooted in Grace
• Growing in Faith
• Serving with Joy

Worship Schedule

• Sunday Worship and Communion: 9:00 a.m.
• Informal Worship: 10:30 a.m.
• Sunday School for all ages: 10:30 a.m.

Critical Targets and Goals

To accomplish our mission and ministry here at Our Savior:

• Pastor: A new Senior Pastor is installed and competently fulfilling all the obligations of his position by May 1, 2006.
• Membership: There is a 20% increase in active membership by July 1, 2006.
• Communications: Every person in our “community”—in the church, in the school and in the area—is aware of events and activities that are of interest to them. OSLM’s leaders know the opinions and feelings of those in the “community” with regard to our ministries.
• Stewardship: There is a 10% increase in General Giving for 2005-’06 versus 2004-’05.
• Ministry Wing: The Stewards’ give their approval to proceed with the construction of a Ministry Wing by July 1, 2006.

Mission Statement

Our Savior Lutheran Ministries’ Mission is to:

• Proclaim salvation through God’s grace in word and song
• Build Christian relationships
• Care for the people of the community
• Equip God’s people for Life in Christ