Happy New Year!

That is more than a wish for you and yours, but a statement of fact for Our Savior. Why would I be that confident? It goes like this:

• The Year of Our Lord 2006 will, with God’s blessing, mark the beginning of the ministry of our resident Senior Pastor.
• AD 2006 will, with God’s blessing, see the beginning of the construction of the new Ministry Center.
• AD 2006 will, with God’s blessing, be another year of growth for church and school as we continue to be rooted in grace, growing in faith, and serving with joy.

All of this is simply expressing confidence that God keeps His promise to us to be with us in Jesus Christ through Word and Sacrament. We keep the 12 days of Christmas – December 25 to January 6 – and then enjoy the unfolding of the season of Epiphany. Each Sunday is another opportunity to be encouraged in our faith life as we hear the Word of God and experience His presence with us in the bread and wine. While this sounds like the “same old, same old,” it is actually the very power of God for living our life together to the full. We make decisions and act on them with the Holy Spirit giving us insight, guidance and energy to carry out His will for us.

The promise is that as each of us who confess our faith in Jesus do the same in our personal lives, we will also live each day full of confidence, hope and joy.

And that makes a happy New Year a sure thing!

Blessings in Jesus Christ to all of us in this new Year of Our Lord!

Richard Brewer Interim Pastor

Remember when Jesus fed over 5000 people and some days later more than 4000 people near the Sea of Galilee? Well, I wasn’t there, either, but we can read about it in Mark chapters 6 and 8, respectively. In both cases Jesus first asked His disciples how much food they had on hand to feed the crowd. What they had was not really enough for the 12, much less for thousands of people. Nevertheless, Jesus miraculously used those resources to feed the people, and the disciples even collected baskets of scraps after each meal.

Why do you suppose details about bread, sushi, and leftovers were important enough to include in the gospel narrative? These miracles show God’s care for people’s needs and they demonstrate Jesus’ identity as Lord over creation. However, I think they also stand as bold object lessons about how God would use our resources to carry out His plans.

The start of a new calendar year is a good time to take stock of where we have been and look ahead to where we are going, so let us take a quick look at what I call church by the numbers. Or, to say it another way, let us look at some of our resources that God would use to carry out His plans. You may recall that two of our current Critical targets mention resources:

• MEMBERSHIP: A 20% increase in the active membership by July 1, 2006
• STEWARDSHIP: A 10% increase in the General Giving for ’05-’06 versus ’04-’05

Together, these Critical Targets provide a barometer for the larger picture of how we invest time, energy, and money in God’s plans. His plans include what God will do with our congregation (people doing God’s work), what He will do with our ministries (God’s work for people to do), and what He will do with you. Kind of gets personal, but God is like that.

I am happy to report that our overall budget this year is about 9.6% over last year, and that our income YTD is within 2% percent of budget. Remarkable! And our year to date general fund giving, the focus of the Critical Target, is running about eight percent ahead of last year. Not quite the 10% goal we had set, but clearly a sign of God’s blessings to you and through you! And maybe a sign that we should have been more aggressive in our ministry plans! I am also happy to report that our active membership is growing, although this one is harder to track. Active membership involves the other dimensions of stewardship: time, energy, and work invested in worship, the sacrament, the Word, prayer, and different kinds of ministry.

There is another way to see this picture. You probably don’t give money because of the budget, just like you don’t invest time just because someone called a meeting. You give time, money, and energy because of a vision for opportunities God sends our way. Our Lord does not expect us to be like the steward who hid the money; he wants us to use it to seize the ministry opportunities He provides. To touch on another parable, God does not want us to loaf in the marketplace when we could make a personal difference doing His work.

I think the congregation as a whole understands this, which is why income tracks so closely to the budget, and why giving takes a jump every time people sense a wonderful new opportunity. For example, when given an opportunity to help purchase the pipe organ, people scrambled over each other for a chance to chip in. And when we need volunteers for a special task force like the Call Committee or the Building Committee, there are always plenty of volunteers. Does it excite you to see God use your resources? Stay tuned; there are more opportunities on the horizon!

We Give God the Glory for:

• Linda Greenhagen for writing the “outline” of our three Advent Services: “The Plan, The Arrival, and The Response”. She wrote, planned, directed, fussed, explained to the teachers their parts, shared her vision of what it should be – and then made sure we all did it (that was the hard part!)
• All the teachers who helped with the Advent services. Each teacher had their “role” and each completed their tasks in customary exemplary fashion. Special thanks to Christa Even who directed a special 6-8 grade choir on top of all her other tasks and responsibilities. (Special note: Christa plays piano/organ for all our programs, chapel services – you name it, Christa does it! She’s special!!)
• The students who participated and shared the wonderful message of Jesus’ birth. Children have a unique way that they can tell about Jesus and his birth.
• Thank you for bringing your treasured nativity sets. Looking at the variety demonstrates all the different ways we can view the birth of Jesus. The lesson might be that God approaches each of us in special and unique ways. Click here to see pictures of the nativity sets.
• Thanks to Lynn Dirks and Kathy Newman for their “souper” effort. They organized a soup drive. Students were to bring cans or packages of soup to help stock the local food shelves. Our students brought in a “ton of soup” (2,485 pounds of soup to be exact!). Fourth grade took top honors bringing in 388 pounds!
• Our students of the month for December – Forrest Bradley, Josh Cowles, Tei’a Pueliu, Clara Neal, Zoie Wardlaw, and Laura Zampetti.
• All the “little lambs” of OSLS!

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.

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 OPEN HOUSE will be in January (exact date not yet set). This Open House will be for area preschool directors who might refer their “graduates” to OSLS.
• The second OPEN HOUSE is February 7th from 6:30-8:30 p.m. (in the gym). This is the open house where we are looking to inform students new to our school for next year. This would be a great time and place to invite neighbors and friends to “take a look” at OSLS! They will have the opportunity to visit classrooms, talk to teachers in smaller groups, and talk to other parents about our school.
• The third OPEN HOUSE is February 15th from 4:00-6:00 p.m. This open house is intended for continuing students. It is a chance for parents of current students to look ahead to the next grade level, talk to teachers, and other parents. There will be “root beer floats” for students and parents and a good time by all.
• A final OPEN HOUSE will be in April or May. This is still in the planning stages but will be “aimed” at inviting area realtors to learn about our school and perhaps let their clients know about OSLS!

Upcoming Events

• Junior High Dance on Friday, January 13th at 7:00 p.m.
• NO SCHOOL January 16th – Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday
• End of 1st Semester on January 20th. Can you believe the year is half over!?!
• On January 27-29, students in grades 6-8 will be participating in our 2nd Annual Talents’ Fair. This is an extension of our Science Fair where we have given students to “show off” their talents in the areas of fine arts, literature, science, and social studies. Students were given the guidelines to complete their projects before Thanksgiving. It will all come to realization on January 27th when students will set up their projects. Judging will occur on Saturday, January 28th. Projects will be available for viewing on Sunday morning (after church) and again at 1:00 p.m. You will be amazed at the talents displayed by our students.

Winners of the science projects will go on to the annual Tri-Valley Science and Engineering Fair conducted in February. Winners in the other areas of fine arts, literature, and social studies will be entered in the Alameda County Fair (last year our students took 3rd place overall!).

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 on January 11 and 25, 2006 at the home of Dee Christopher. Please call the church office (925-447- 1246) for directions.

Men's Ministry

• Men’s Breakfast Bible Study will take place on Fridays at 6:30 a.m., January 6, 13, 20, and 27 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

Visit http://yam.osyouth.c om for more information about Events & Activities for Young Adults!

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, January 10 from 7—9 p.m. in Room 18. Come and join in the fun!
• The Christian Reading Club of Our Savior meets on a monthly basis to share insights and reactions to a monthly reading assignment. We just finished "The Case for Christmas" in December and for January we’ll be reading “Dinner with a Perfect Stranger” by David Gregory, ISBN #1-57856-905-2. You can pick up your copy for about $10 at a local bookstore, on- line, and even at Wal-Mart! We’ll meet for our discussion time on Tuesday, January 17 from 7:00-8:30 pm in Room 8. Call Steve Christopher at 447-1246 ext. 228 for more information.

Upcoming Events

• 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.

You now have a new building committee charged with coordinating the remodeling of the old brick building (also known as the Mayflower Building or the Ferrario Winery) into facilities for our ministries. Members of the committee are Jean Auble, Jim Hermerding, Linda Nelson, Dan Rorabaugh, Ted Sanlis, Beth Young, and Glenn Strahl (chairman).

Our architect is John Seals of Davidson + Seals Architects (Bob Davidson, who designed our sanctuary, has retired.)

The committee has met twice with the architect as of this writing. Progress has been made toward developing the conceptual design into actual design for administrative offices, meeting rooms, teaching rooms, nursery, rest rooms, youth activity areas, junior high classrooms, and a maintenance shop.

We will keep you informed of our progress through this medium and any other appropriate communications. We value your prayer support.

Today a Savior has been born to you. Spread the word. Luke 2:11

As the Christmas season comes to an end, I found the above verse that our preschool learned quite meaningful. Jesus came and we celebrated. I hope that each of you took time, slowed down and really celebrated the birth of Jesus. Not the giving of the gifts, not the wonderful food, but celebrated with family and friends that wonderful gift God gave us. Now it is time to get to work. Like the shepherds so long ago Christ has given us a job to do. He has told us, “Spread the word.”

Here at the ECDC, we have been busy learning the story of how Jesus our Savior came so long ago. We became shepherds and angels telling the good news. We became sheep, donkeys and doves at the manger watching in wonder. We are now ready to go and spread the news to people that we meet. As my daughter in her wisdom and other children have told me, “Christmas is not about the gifts. It’s about Jesus and telling people about Him.” The celebration may be over, but now is the time to tell others, so let’s get to work.

The ECDC will be learning of Jesus at the Temple and how he was a boy and listened to God’s word at Church, just like us. We will learn how Jesus chose disciples and how we too are His disciples, ready to spread his word. We will end the month with learning how Jesus blessed the little children. We will be busy learning of winter and snow and of how God created each snowflake different and special and how he has done the same for us. God created you just the way you are. He created you as one of His disciples ready to spread the word.

We, at the ECDC, would like to say thank you to some special angels this month. Thank you to:

• Pat Pope, for sewing the gifts for the three year olds.
• Michelle Anderson, for sewing the gifts for the four year olds.
• Shirley Volkman, for playing the piano for our four year olds.
• Leona Anderson, for coming in to read to us.
• Barbra Wills, for helping us clean out the Mayflower.
• Christa Even, for providing music for our chapel.

God has definitely blessed us with a congregation filled with angels and as always, we thank you for your prayers.

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

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

Income is on target 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/costs under projected plan

Balances in our various checking, savings and stock accounts total $625,986 which includes $154,877 for the Ministry Center. The pledges for the Ministry Center totaled $137,248.

Pledges for the continuation program totaled $706,284 of which $534,737 has been received. Monthly pledges needed to make the mortgage payment are $22,000. In November, we received $18,968.

Discipleship Component #4 = Process

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 process.

It all began at Baptism. The water was poured upon us or applied in some way, and the words, “I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,” were spoken. In that moment, we were claimed by Christ, we became disciples, and the journey began.

Discipleship is not a destination, but a journey. We never truly arrive at “complete discipleship.” It is not possible to achieve perfect discipleship, for we will never be perfect in this life. Our followership of Christ will always be flawed. But growth is possible, and growth is a process. It is a process that is ongoing. Discipleship is an ever present activity of each Christian. It is something that is different for each of us, yet we all have the same experience of being in the journey of faith. We all want to walk closer with our Lord, and we all want to follow him more faithfully. At times we are in the same place as others. There are times when we see others ahead of us, and seek to “catch up” to where they are in their walk of faith. Then, there are times when we become the encourager to someone else who is in the “process” of growing in a new or different direction in their faith walk.

Faith is not static. It is never the same, for each day of our life is never the same. We are all in “process” on a daily basis and so is our faith. We change daily. Although we may not always see evidence of change until a period of time has passed, change and growth often happen in incremental ways. When certain “markers” of life occur, caused through experience and the passage of time, we can look back and see the progress, and we see what the “process” of life has brought to us! We have grown as disciples.

God is in the process of our everyday life. He is there as we awake each morning. He is there when we trudge onward in our daily schedule. He is there when times are good and when times are tough. He is there in the quiet of the evening, and as we lay our head to rest.

Our daily activities are the “process” of life and God is with us every step of the way, growing us in our discipleship, building us up in His grace, and walking with us toward a blessed and fruitful tomorrow. In our everyday “process” of life, we often greet one another with the question, “How’s it going?” which has become a very generic, almost meaningless phrase. Perhaps, we who are in the journey of faith together can start a new expression that will show concern for the welfare of faith in our fellow disciples by asking, “How’s the process?” Try it! It may surprise someone. Ask it of yourself everyday!

Celebrate the Bounty of the Bay at the 8th Annual Crab Feed, Saturday, February 4, 2006, from 5--9 p.m., at Our Savior Gymnasium! Enjoy All- You-Can-Eat Crab, Caesar Salad, Pasta, Garlic Bread, and Dessert. There will be music, dancing, and lots of family fun! Join us--it'll be all it's cracked up to be!

Tickets are available in the church office. Costs for tickets are $20 for adults, $10 for kids ages 5--10, and kids under age 4 are free. Buy your tickets early-- seating is limited!

The men of Our Savior gathered last fall for a Bar-B- Q and time of fellowship at the home of Mark McDonald and had a great time! Over 25 men were in attendance.

It was so much fun that it demanded an encore! We didn’t want to wait until next fall, so plans are being made for the first annual MEAT BOWL, an afternoon of fellowship, eating a variety of meat (and other foods) and football!

We will again gather at the home of Mark McDonald on Sunday – January 22, 2006, for the last round of the NFL Play-offs. We’ll meet in the early afternoon (specific time will be announced, based on the game schedule for that day) for the two conference championship football games, where the winners go to the Super Bowl.

We’ll have plenty of meat! Mark is also planning for some “team specific” dishes! Come and see if there is Clam Chowder (in honor of the New England Patriots) or Ribs (in honor of the Indianapolis Colts) or ???

We will also enjoy a time of fellowship and there will be things for the uninterested Football Fan. We’ll do some planning for the Easter Breakfast sponsored by the men of Our Savior and look further into the idea of an Our Savior Men’s Retreat.

Cost will be your free-will donation to help cover expenses. You do need to RSVP to Steve Christopher in the Church Office, at 447-1246 x 228 no later than Tuesday, Jan. 18th.

Thanks to everyone who helped to make our Advent and Christmas services more meaningful--those who planned worship, the decorating crew, singers and instrumentalists, ushers, readers, and Altar Guild.

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 (provided by the church) 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! To participate, plan on attending the special training meeting on Monday, January 9 at 7 p.m. in Room 8.

Dear Family and Friends,

Greetings from Guatemala! I pray that all is well with you.

The Lord’s Kitchen is daily reaching out to those who don’t know Jesus It is a “Mission Field” in itself. Over the years, I have seen how God’s love is reaching into the depths of their hearts—hearts that have been hardened over time due to circumstances, vices, and abuses (physically, mentally, and verbally). We have literally seen how the Holy Spirit has convicted them and the love of Christ has reached into the depths of their hearts and has softened them. We have been privileged to lead many of them to the feet of Jesus and have been at the deathbed of several to usher them into His Kingdom. “For we are unto God a sweet savor of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish.” 2 Cor. 2:15.

After Hurricane Stan hit Guatemala, there were many areas that have been affected and many villages that have lost everything that they had. The mission has been able to go into six different villages to bring food, blankets, toys and most importantly, a message of hope—the message of Jesus.

We closed off this year with our “annual” Children’s Church carnival that included 12 different game booths, two super jumping bags, bobbing for apples, and lots of food. Then all 550 kids were ushered into the church for a super Christmas program and as they left, each one was handed a gift bag with lots of little surprises.

The Lord’s Kitchen also closed out 2005 with a traditional Christmas dinner of tamales, rice, hot chocolate, sweet bread and a roll. Each person received a gift bag of candy, cookies, chips, and warm blanket (the kids received a nice toy). This past year, we served 107,165 hot meals to the homeless. What a faithful God we serve!!

For the next few weeks, I will be on vacation, relaxing and celebrating Christmas with my family in California, before returning to Guatemala and opening up the kitchen on the 2nd of January.

May God bless each and every one of you. And may you have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Thank you for helping me financially stay here in Guatemala to serve the Lord. Together we can make an impact on the world for Christ!!

Love, in Christ, Janet Volkman

Christine Townsend, a member of our congregation, has recently received a scholarship grant from the Roeber Memorial Scholarship Fund to further her education at Concordia University, St. Paul, MN. The Roeber Memorial Scholarship fund provides scholarship grants for local (Alameda and Contra Costa counties) students preparing for full time church work careers in the LCMS and studying at LCMS institutions; and also provides grants to full time church workers continuing their educational programs.

In 2004, the Fund made scholarship grants totaling nearly $10,000 to eleven recipients in six local congregations. If you would like to contribute to the fund which will assist future generations of church workers meet the rising costs of higher education, or learn more about the fund, please contact Roeber Memorial Scholarship Fund, c/o Zion Lutheran Church, 5201 Park Boulevard, Piedmont, CA 94611.

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