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No Sunday School class until January 8th.

We are still in need of worship servants for Christmas Eve, during all service times, Christmas Day and January 1 at both services. Some of the servant spots we would really like to have filled are :

• Altar guild for 7 and 9 PM Christmas Eve
• Assisting Minister for 4 or 7 PM Christmas Eve and January 1.
• An AV (livestream operator) 9 PM Christmas Eve & January 1 (could be either service, just let Donna know your preference time).
• Ushers for 9 PM Christmas Eve and Jan 1 at 8:30 AM.
• Families to light Advent Wreath at 4 and 9 on Christmas Eve.

Please click the button below and sign up to serve today.

The church office will be closed December 26 & 27 & January 2^nd and 3^{rd for the Christmas and New Year holidays. Kindly call before stopping by, as we are operating with a very limited staff until January.}

It is not too late to submit your offering pledge forms. As a reminder, please be sure to submit a new Simply Giving Authorization Form if you are changing your Simply Giving amount in any way. 

Pastor Rosy will be doing House Blessing during Epiphany from January 9-26. You do have to sign up using the link below. You do not have to be home when she comes by. She will be using chalk to mark the exterior portion of your home door frame. If you’d like a home blessing in the new year, use the link below to sign up!

If your address has changed in the last year, please email Pastor Rosy to ensure she is blessing the correct home!

https://doodle.com/bp/rosalinarivera/home-blessings

New Member Class

A new member class will meet every other Sunday, beginning January 15th and use the study “Come and Grow with Us”. The study will introduce new and prospective members (or current members) to Christian faith and Lutheran practices in a nonthreatening, airy, user-friendly format. All are welcome to attend. Classes will be in between services in the small room adjacent to the Entryway. New Member Sunday will be March 5th.

You May Have Been Assigned a Servant Role in January

The Sunday Servant Worship Schedule can be found by clicking the button and viewing on our website. There is a link on our home page under "Quick Links."

We have very limited servants signed up for Assisting Minister, Acolyte and Crucifer for both services. Please prayerfully consider if you are willing to serve in one of these roles.

If switching to a new role, please email our Office Coordinator, Melina, so she can add you to our schedules. Also, please let the office know in advance if you are scheduled, or future plans have you going away and cannot serve. Thank you.

CARE FOR CREATION

Soles 4 Souls (S4S) has been collecting new and gently worn shoes for years, and our GSLC youth have spent several mission trips sorting shoes at their facility in Nashville, TN.

Our Caring for Creation Team and youth will be collecting new and gently used shoes for S4S during the month of January. Collection boxes, decorated by our GSLC youth, will be in the Fellowship Hall. A friendly competition of whose box gets the most shoes wins a prize for our youth. Now clean out that closet! 

We are now collecting used eyeglasses. A box is located in Fellowship Hall. These will be donated to the Lion's Club.

Our next Caring for Creation meeting will be Wednesday, January 11, 2023, at 7:00 p.m. on Zoom. We will be working on new ways to care for God's glorious creation during the coming year. 

We continue to collect oral care waste for recycling. These items are mailed to TerraCycle where they are made into plastic pellets which can be made into outdoor furniture of playground equipment.  

Hefty energy bags for hard to recycle plastics are available in the Fellowship Hall for a nominal charge. These are collected on Two-Can Sunday and taken to the appropriate recycling facility. 

We also continue to collect used batteries to take to the appropriate recycling facility. This keeps the toxic materials out of landfills. 

YARN ANGELS

Our next meeting will be on Monday, January 16th, from 11 AM to 1 PM, at the home of Susan Epling.

Connect with the ELCA and SE Synod

•  December Edition: Southeastern Synod E-News (new Christmas edition)
• December Edition: ELCA Monthly publication "Seeds Monthly"
• Southeastern Synod Advent/Christmas Devotional
• Christmas Story - Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton

Faith Stories meets Sunday mornings at 9:45 AM titled, "“Dear Church: A Love Letter from a Black Preacher to the Whitest Denomination in the US”. Book available on Amazon. We meet in room 117.

Thursday Morning Bible Study

We will start a new study on January 5th.

at 10 AM, “An Unexpected Revival”: Experiencing God’s Goodness through Disappointment and Doubt An 8 week study of Ezekiel.

Encounter a unique picture of revival through Ezekiel's prophecies in this 8-week Bible study, An Unexpected Revival: Experiencing God's Goodness through Disappointment and Doubt. God chose to spark revival through people who seemed counted out, cast aside, and disregarded. However, God pursues us with His goodness desiring to bring revival to our broken hearts.

THEOLOGY ON TAP

 New location at Game Day. Every other week, beginning January 4th at 7 PM. Join us for fun, fellowship and answers/discussions challenging your faith. All are welcome.

Blood Drive

The next blood drive is January 7th, from 8 am until 1 pm. If you want to give blood please go online to redcross.org and sign up. All presenting donors are offered a chance to win Super Bowl tickets in Phoenix and a Cheeseburger Bobby's coupon!

The Outreach Committee will be collecting gently used children's books to give to The Encouragement Project the entire month of January. They will deliver them to children in need. There will be plastic bins in the Fellowship Hall labeled for the collections. 

Looking for all the news for our Youth? Be sure to read your Wednesday, Weekly Lamb Buzz Email. Some exciting things are happening at GSLC for all ages of our youth. Access each week on our website under the Youth Tab, the button below or sign-up to be on the e-mail list. Let Mel know at [email protected] if you want to be included in the email blast. 

We will continue to list important youth activities in our worship bulletins.

Confirmation and FX3 will meet next on January 8th.

We did not get enough support to run a Winter VBS program this year. We hope to see you all during the summer for a fun, filled morning at our annual VBS program. Continue to watch your Lamb Buzz and website for all the details.

BUILD OUR LIBRARY

As Youth & Family Ministry continues to expand, so does our library! We are looking to start a book drive & donation for new books to fill our Worship Bags and Children’s library. All you have to do is grab one of the pictures of books hanging outside of Melina’s office, purchase it, and place it back in her mailbox. Only a few books left. Please contact Melina with any questions. 

[email protected]

This is our e-mail address for you to submit prayer concerns. Prayers will be posted to the Prayer Circle, via e-mail, during normal business hours. You can also drop us an e-mail at this same e-mail address if you would like to be a part of the Prayer Circle.

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Go in peace. Christ is near.