CROSS OF CHRIST LUTHERAN CHURCH
24155 Griswold Road, South Lyon, MI 48178
248-437-8810
Fax: 248-437-708
www.crossofchristlutheran.org Email:
Look for us on FACEBOOK at: www.facebook.com/crossofchristsouthlyon
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Sunday Worship: 10 a.m.Holy Communion is celebrated on the 2nd, 4th, and 5th Sundays of the month.
Sunday School: 10 a.m. – 3 years old through fifth grade
Adult Bible Study: Sundays 9:00 a.m. & Friday 7:00 p.m. (once a month)
Youth Bible Study: 10 a.m. (1st & 3rd Sundays)
Dear Beloved Members and Friends,
During this month of November we celebrate Thanksgiving Day. For what are you thankful? You may think of many things. Did you think of your body, soul, eyes, ears, all your members, health, your reason and all your senses? How about clothing, shoes, food, drink, job, income, house, home, children, grandchildren, land or animals? For all these blessings it is our duty to praise and thank God. You may be thankful for your friends, fellow Christians, and church family. You might be thankful for spiritual blessings, including redemption, forgiveness of sins, life, salvation, Baptism, Lord’s Supper, justification, sanctification, answered prayer, and grace gifts.
Have you ever done something for someone who showed no appreciation? You gave a gift to a family member and you received no thank you, no expression of gratitude from him. You were probably disappointed. How often have we forgotten to thank God for all the wonderful gifts He has given us? This month it is fitting to remember we give thanks and praise to God for His wonderful gifts.
On Thanksgiving Day, many people give thanks for material blessings. We sometimes find ourselves weak when it comes to thanking and praising God. We tend to be better askers than thankers. “God, feed us! Smooth things out! Defend us against our enemies! Make us happy!” Often we presume God’s promise to feed us. We ask for daily bread, but often forget to receive it with thanksgiving. Some days we forgot and neglected to thank God in our prayers. We neglected and forgot to pray prayers of thanksgiving before and after meals.
We do have many reasons to give thanks. Jesus has given us physical and spiritual healing. Christ has redeemed us by His blood shed on the cross. By the nail wound in Jesus’ hands and feet and by the spear wound in His side, you are spiritually healed. Your sins are forgiven. Christ reconciled you to God by His death. Jesus may have given you physical healing this past year. Our Lord healed me of a precancerous skin condition this year. Thanksgiving can flow into worship.
Jesus died for you on the cross to deliver you from the diseases of sin, death, and the devil. You have bee spiritually healed. In the water of Baptism, the forgiveness won by Christ on His cross was applied to you. God called you by name, set you on the journey of faith, and healed you. These are all blessings for which we can praise and thank God.
PASTOR’S LETTER Continued
Thanks and praise flows out in worship. On Communion Sundays and on Thanksgiving Eve, we will gather in worship around God’s Word and the Eucharist (the Greek word for thanksgiving). We thank our Lord for all the blessings He gives us in His Supper. We give thanks to Jesus for His body, blood, forgiveness of sins, life, salvation, joy, love, and peace. We gather on Thanksgiving Eve because our President issued a proclamation to do so in our respective houses of worship. We give thanks for all the good gifts God has bestowed on us this year.
Thanks and praise to God in Jesus Christ! We give thanks every day as we journey through this life on the road of thanksgiving as recipients of God’s wonderful gifts.
May God bless you and your family during this month of November and always!
Sincerely Yours in Christ,
Pastor Terry Nelson
Thanksgiving Worship Services:
Sunday, November 24th – 10 a.m.
Wednesday, November 27 – 7 p.m.
STEWARDSHIP COMMITMENTS
Thank you to all who turned in their 2014 COMMITMENT Form. We would like everyone to fill out a Commitment Form, even if you are unable to pledge at this time. Commitment forms can still be returned in the offering plate or mailed to the church office. Extra forms can be found on the table in the Gathering Hall. Our Financial Secretary, Chuck Deeds, confidentially reviews the pledges.
It’s not too late to sign up!
Cross of Christ’s 40th Anniversary Celebration
Sunday, November 3, 2013
Worship 10 a.m.
Program & Dinner Following
(Three of our past pastors will be attending!)
DINNER RSVP please: Sign-up sheet; email ; or call 248-437-8810.
THANKOFFERING
Prayerfully consider a thankoffering in honor of Cross of Christ’s 40th Anniversary. The Lord has truly blessed our congregation! (A special envelope is attached.)
C H R I S T I A N E D U C A T I O N
“Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it.”
Proverbs 22:6
SUNDAY SCHOOL classes are held at 10 a.m. for children three years old through fifth grade. Children are dismissed to their classes from the worship service after the opening hymn.
The SUNDAY SCHOOL CHRISTMAS PROGRAM is being planned for SUNDAY, DECEMBER 15th. We would like your children to participate!! Practice for the program will be held in November and December during the Sunday School class time. If you have any questions, please contact Tom or Kelli Hackbardt () or 248-321-5991.
YOUTH BIBLE STUDY SCHEDULE Youth in grades 6 – 12 meet during the worship service on the first and third Sundays of the month. They are dismissed to their classes after the opening hymn.
YOUTH EVENT:
Grades 6 – 12, you are invited to the YFC Halloween Bonfire Party, on Saturday, November 2, from 6:30-10:00 p.m. at the home of Neil & Annie Nichols (11435 Fairlane Dr., South Lyon). Enjoy hot dogs, marshmallows and treats, songs and stories. Meet at the Nichols’ house. Call or email Dom 586-864-8623 (); or Amy 810-333-6370 () with any questions.
SUNDAY ADULT BIBLE CLASS
Sunday mornings at 9 a.m.
Join us Sunday mornings at 9 a.m. in the Fellowship Hall as we take a closer look at the Gospel, Epistle, and Old Testament lessons for the day. All are welcome!
CONFIRMATION instruction, for young people in 7th and 8th grades, is held Wednesdays, from 4:00 – 5:30 p.m. If you are interested in having your child join the class, give Pastor Nelson a call.
CROSS OF CHRIST
CHRISTIAN PRESCHOOL
We are enjoying a large enrollment this school year at preschool. If you are new to our congregation and would like information, we would love to have you visit our school. We offer a play-based program for three and four year olds, with age appropriate academics.
P R E P A R I N G F O R C H R I S T M A S
OPERATION
CHRISTMAS
CHILD
Our congregation is again reaching out to needy children in desperate situations around the world through Operation Christmas Child. Please fill your own box (plastic or shoe box is fine). BROCHURES are available on the entryway table with suggestions. If able, please include a $7 donation in the envelope for shipping and place on top inside your box. FILLED BOXES ARE DUE BACK ON SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 17.
WOMEN’S OUTREACH
BERRY HOME COLLECTION:
For many years Women’s Outreach has sponsored a gift collection to provide gift baskets for the ladies at Berry Foster Home in South Lyon. Please send in 4 small items (all the same) for Claudia, Christine, Kathy, and Veronica, and place in the box provided in the Gathering Hall by Sunday, December 15th. The ladies love candy and snacks. Try to avoid lotions this year, as they have received a number of bottles throughout the years. Thank you for contributing to this heart-warming collection. You are welcome to join us for delivery. The excitement and joy the ladies receive from this simple act is beyond measure.
CHRISTMAS LIGHTS
We thank Christmas Décor, by Eradico, for donating all of the outdoor Christmas lights for this upcoming Christmas season.
CHURCH
DECORATING FOR
CHRISTMAS Saturday, November 30th – 9 a.m.
Thanksgiving weekend
Help is needed (both men and women) to put up our very tall Christmas tree and decorate the sanctuary for the Christmas season. We usually complete the task in an hour or two. Hope you can attend!
POINSETTIAS
We need your help - sign up to place Poinsettias on altar for Christmas services!
Sign up in November to purchase POINSETTIA plants for the church sanctuary for Christmas week. The beautiful three-stem plants will be available for $15 each and may be taken home after the Christmas Eve worship services. Cash or checks made payable to “Cross of Christ” may be placed in the offering plate, designated “Poinsettias.”
THANK YOU to Tom & Kelli Hackbardt for organizing the Children’s Halloween
Party! Thank you to all who gave donations and helped out.
USHERS NEEDED
Adults and High School students (boys and girls) are needed for ushering. Speak with Pastor Nelson if you can help in this area. Thank you!
ADULT CHOIR
People of all voices are needed -(soprano, alto, tenor, and bass). If you enjoy singing praises to God, please prayerfully consider singing in the Choir. Speak with Pastor Nelson if interested. Our Choir sings once a month at the 10 a.m. worship service.
BOARD OF TRUSTEES UPDATE
We are requesting donations for the Electrical Fund to provide additional outdoor security lighting and an extra line to prevent overloading. Any questions or suggestions, give me a call (248-349-1555).
. . . . Bonnie Reichert
FUNERAL DINNER HELP
Thank you to all who provide food, help serve, and set up and clean up after funeral dinners. It is a tremendous help to grieving families in their time of need. Especially needed is more help with set up. A team of two or three arrange tables, chairs, and set up coffee, plates, cups, etc. for the dinner. If you can help out, contact Annie Nichols at 248-437-9599 or the church office.
EMAIL ADDRESSES
If you’d like to be added to our email list, contact . To check out upcoming events, go to our web site at www.crossofchristlutheran.org. The monthly calendar and newsletter are available each month online.
Look for us on FACEBOOK at: www.facebook.com/crossofchristsouthlyon
STEWARDSHIP
CORNERA New Command
Jesus, speaking to His disciples, said, “A new command I give to you, that you love one another; just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34-35).
“A new command.” Yet it is an old one. It was Moses, way back in the book of Leviticus, directed by God to speak His commands to His people, who said, “You shall not take vengeance…but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord” (Leviticus 19:18).
Jesus amplified His command, however. We are to love, He said, “as I have loved you.” How did Christ love us? At the time, the disciples did not know the depth of Christ’s love. They hadn’t heard the angels announce the birth of their Savior in Bethlehem. They had not yet been to Calvary and couldn’t comprehend Jesus’ references to His impending death. They had no idea that the Resurrection, Ascension, and the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost were ahead.
We do have that knowledge. We understand what Jesus is talking about for we know how He loved us. He has loved us enough to leave the glories of Heaven. He has loved us more than earthly power and status and honor. He has loved us more than He loved His own life.
Jesus further said that love for one another would be the mark of members of the Family of God. Just as He gave sight to the blind, made the lame man walk, healed the sick, and preached the Gospel to eager ears, so did His followers. So should we today. With the love of Christ in us, we visit the lonely, provide food for the hungry, and share our financial resources in order that the Word of God might be preached and bring many to salvation. Loving others as Christ has loved us means that we should be willing to lay down our lives for them.
Sinful beings that we are, we are not prone to love others as Christ has loved us. The apostle John tells us how it is possible: “Beloved,” he wrote in 1 John 4:7, “let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.” We are born of God, and, by His grace, we can carry out His command to love one another through all the opportunities He gives us with all the gifts He gives us.
The Apostle Paul in Romans 12:2 wrote, "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." God wants us to be counter-cultural.
A Sunday school teacher asked, “Johnny, do you think Noah did a lot of fishing when he was on the ark?” “No,” replied Johnny, How could he, with just two worms.”
MEMORIALS
+ + In memory of Russell Erb, gifts have been given by Helen Perttunen and Marie Smith.
+ + In memory of Kathy Goers, a gift has been given to Active Faith by Neil & Annie Nichols.
NOVEMBER
BIRTHDAYS
1 Bryan Lach
4 Emily Deeds
5 Sarah Walrath
11 Deanna Sieting
12 Barbara Elandt
13 Ed Hempel
15 Louise Rucker
16 Amy Lockard
Esther Schlosser
17 Jan Flook
18 Juanita Tunis
20 Drew Hantz
21 Diana Baker
23 John Gilbert
Pastor Nelson
24 Jeannine Hosbach
Colleen Martin
Dawn Petz
27 Amy Deeds
28 Hazel Richardson
Drake Wyman
30 Brenden Lach
Nicholas Stevenson
NOVEMBER
ANNIVERSARIES5 Neil & Annie Nichols
7 Jerry & Carla Geelhood
Richard & Beverly Jennings
12 Gary & Nancy Cash
27 Julius & Margerie Saner
Let the church office know of any dates missing or incorrect.
MEMBERSHIP UPDATE
CALLED HOME:
+ + Russell Erb
October 15, 2013
BAPTISM:
+ + Claire Thompson
Child of David & Amanda Thompson
September 29, 2013
THRIVENT CHOICE
We thank Thrivent Financial for continued donations to our church and preschool through the Thrivent Choice Program. If you are a Thrivent policy holder and have not selected Cross of Christ Lutheran Church or Preschool as your designated choice, do so at Thrivent.com/thrivent choice. Learn more by calling our congregation’s representative,
Cathy Gateman, CLU, FIC, at
734-432-7777 or online at
.
Opportunity to Have Choice Dollars® Directions Doubled We are excited to announce the launch of the Thrivent Choice® ‘Double Direction Church Campaign’ that runs from Oct. 1 to Nov. 30, 2013. All Choice Dollars directions made to enrolled churches will be doubled during this time or until $15 million has been awarded, whichever comes first.
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