Christ Our Savior Lutheran Church Newsletterbacktotop

NOV 2020
Strengthen Faith, Build Hope, Share Love in Christ Our Savior 
Pastor Andy Writes... 
Pastor Andy Keltner
A New Church Year

This year on Sunday, November 29 the church begins a new year. The church year begins with the season of Advent. Advent is the season when we anticipate the coming of the King of Kings. We not only anticipate the birth of the King, but we prepare for His second coming. Jesus is the King of Kings. He is our Lord and Savior.

God promised that He would save His people. Jesus is that Savior. He is the incarnate Lord. He is the Anointed One. The Babe of Bethlehem, is the Savior of the nations. The child born of the virgin will suffer and die for our sins, rise from death, and rule eternally. The King of Kings will come again and establish a new heaven and new earth. Jesus is the fulfillment of God's promise.  

"Behold I am making all things new."
--Revelation 21: 5

As we start a new church year, it would be good to review our commitment to our Lord. We make New Year's resolutions to better ourselves and make positive changes in our life. As we begin the Advent season, I hope you will resolve to make a positive change in your relationship to our Lord.

John the Baptist called the people of Israel to repentance to prepare for the coming of the King. As we begin a new church year we should repent. Luther begins his 95 theses: "When our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, said "Repent," He called for the entire life of believers to be one of penitence." We begin our worship services with confession and absolution. We are sinners. Jesus came to suffer and die for sinners that we would be reconciled to God. Come to worship services and each day confess your sins to God. We sin. God forgives.

As we prepare for the second coming of the King, we should work to grow stronger in our faith. God gives us the Means of Grace for the forgiveness of our sins and the strengthening of our faith. The means of grace are the Word and Sacraments. Connect to Word of God as you read and study the Bible. There is a myriad of devotions available in the Portals of Prayer or online. Your faith is strengthened when you discipline yourself and study the Bible. If you are not daily studying the Bible this can be a new thing you do.

Our faith is strengthened when we study the Bible as a community of believers. The Word is proclaimed in the Sunday Worship and opportunities are available to study scripture corporately with other believers. When believers gather around the Word of God, God is with them.

We celebrate the Sacrament of the Alter every Sunday during our worship. Jesus gives us His body and blood under the bread and wine for the forgiveness of our sins and strengthening of our faith. We receive a foretaste of the feast to come in the Sacrament of the Alter. The Spirt of God comes to us through the Means of Grace. It is foolish when we separate ourselves from the precious gifts of God by not gathering around the table of the Lord. God comes to us through the Word and Sacrament ministry of His church. As we begin a New church year, we can commit ourselves to faithful worship. With our faith strengthened we can stand firm in our faith as we wait for the Second coming of the King. Jesus will come again to judge the wicked and take the righteous to dwell in the new heaven and earth. Advent is a time to prepare for the coming of the King.

BENEVOLENCE FUND
As the majority of you know, Sam, Brandy Kalinka's son had a brain tumor removed. He is recovering well but the family will still need our prayers and support while he heals and recovers.

One way of helping, is the use of our church's Benevolence Fund. If you tag a donation with "Benevolence," the donation will go to Brandy to help with medical bills and other expenses. 

The Benevolence Fund is a great alternative for GoFundMe because 100% of the money goes to Brandy (no service fees) and your donation is still counted as part of your yearly totals. It just doesn't go into the general fund. 
The Worship Word--  
Council President, Janie Ott
Have you heard the saying, "A family that prays together stays together"? The church council believes that "A council that studies and prays together stays together." I want to share with you how the council is facilitating this. We are reading the book, Built on the Rock. As a council we have bonded, and we want to expand our service to the church. One way we can do this is by studying and praying as one, that God grants us wisdom and knowledge to lead and grow our church.
 
Christ Our Savior Lutheran Church's mission is to Strengthen faith, Build hope and Share love in Christ our Savior.  The purpose of this congregation shall be to preach and teach the Word of God and to rightly administer the Sacraments of Holy Baptism and Holy Communion.
 
We have our mission statement posted at the beginning of every agenda. It grounds us with purpose so that we make decisions for the church that align with the mission statement. It is important to never to become satisfied with the status quo. We must strive to always be growing. We need to grow our membership, our programs, and ensure that we are meeting the needs of the greater community. And to this end, Built on the Rock will be one book we learn from together to move the mission of our church forward. Four highlights from the book are the following: 
  • The foundation for health
  • Restoring health and nurturing spiritual needs
  • Healthy spiritual leadership
  • Practical applications for improving spiritual health 
I believe the time spent, in prayer and learning, will help us all to be better leaders and expand our knowledge. Most importantly we want to grow our church. Also, on the top of our council agenda we have the following questions:
 
Are we strengthening faith? Are we building hope? Are we sharing love in Christ our Savior?
 
These are from our constitution and they are to remind us of our purpose. We are a church of wonderful loving people and we want to be as healthy a church as we can be. To move our vision along, we need a great foundation with a proactive approach to growth. Another saying we have heard a lot over the years is, "We want to be farmers not firefighters", meaning we want to plant seeds for growth not be in firefighting mode.
 
The council meetings are the first Tuesday of every month, the congregation is welcome to attend council meetings. Please know you are welcome and if you want to join the book study with us, we would absolutely love to have you join us. Most of all the council is asking for your prayers. We all want to serve with gladness and purpose, and we pray God guides our journey.
 
Blessings!   
Coats for Folks
Coats for Folks is gearing up for another great year! 
 
It is their goal to reach as many individuals and families in need of warm coats as possible.  This has been an extremely successful program since 2008.  With the help of businesses churches and individuals in the community, they have helped families from over 11 different communities. 

This year due to COVID-19, this event will look different.  They are asking for specific requests from those in need and then reaching out to the public for donations.  The Coats for Folks committee will then coordinate getting the coats to those individuals in need.  There will be no open "shop" days this year.  Look for more information on their Facebook page or email: [email protected].  All requests should be received by November 15, 2020, and they would like to have all requests filled by December 1, 2020.

If you have any questions, need additional information, or would like to help in any way, please TEXT Coats For Folks at 913-372-3001 (this number only accepts texts, not voice calls). Be sure to "like" the Coats for Folks Facebook page.  

Thank you from the "Coats for Folks" Committee 
In This Issue
Pastor Andy Writes...
The Worship Word
THANK YOU!
Birthdays
Anniversaries
In the Military
Altar Flowers
Contact Info
Quick Links
  


  

Counting Our Blessings... And Giving Thanks!
Many were instrumental this month and deserve our heartfelt thanks.  

To: The volunteers that have stepped into leadership positions on the church council. It's your selfless involvement that makes this all possible. Thank you!

To: All those that have donated to the Benevolence Fund for Sam's recovery. Thank you!

November Birthdays

11/04    Teresa Schlegel
11/05    Mark Edgar
11/05    Drew Walania
11/06    Owen Marsh
11/07    Janie Ott
11/07    Ken Waite
11/08    Paulette Varns
11/09    Allison Walania
11/14    Angie Graham
11/15    Charlotte Strubbe
11/18    Becca Burton
11/18    Kert Maul
11/20    Debi Stephens
11/22    Judy Lohse
11/23    Shae Murphy
11/24    Linda Paul
11/27    Lindy Spinner
11/30    Grant Strubbe

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Education News
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Confirmation 411 
Parents of Confirmands,
The last confirmation class of the church year is November 16th.  Confirmands are strongly encouraged to attend the Advent services. 

See everyone back in class in January!
November Anniversaries

11/05  David and Courtisa Sharp

Back to top 

 
In the Military
 
Military members and friends of our congregation include: 

Colin Alexander 
Dylan Ash 
Jim Buckman
Garret Cline 
Mark Edgar 
Ray Gigliotti 
Thomas Glick 
Maurissa Glick 
Jeremy Howard 
Zac Howard 
Freddy Hurt 
Greg Jeffrey 
Tyler Jordan 
James Keltner 
Tom Moore 
Rob O'Bannon 
Rob Ortman 
D.J. Weaver

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Altar Flowers 

11/01
God is in control.
Let Him take care of it!
11/08Rausch Family: In honor of Allison and Drew Walania's birthdays
11/15Burton family: In celebration of Becca Burton's birtday.
11/22Karrow family: In remembrance of Lavina Fry.
11/29
Blessed is He who trusts the Lord!

Those who have signed up for flowers have two options: 
  1. You can provide you own. They must be at the church before the 8:00 a.m. service.
  2. Sandy can get them for you for $20. (Make checks payable to Sandy Barsh)
Flowers may be taken home after the 10:30 a.m. service. Please return vases to church when flowers are done. You may contact Sandy Barsh at 913-548-9588 for questions or to fill an open date.

***Dates are available. The sign up sheet is located in the Narthex.  


This pandemic has made social distancing and going it alone the new normal. Here's an opportunity to buck that trend. On September1, the Kansas District is kicking off a 90-day prayer campaign, "Together We Pray," which will include daily scripture verses and prayers through November 29, the first Sunday in Advent. You can also find a booklet with all the prayers HERE available August 31. Take a minute or two each day to join your fellow Kansans in prayer, with the confidence that He will hear us! (You may also call the church office and Becca can make you a copy of the booklet.)


Andy Keltner, Pastor 
5 South 8th Street
Louisburg, KS 66053
 (913)837-4502
Office Hours: Monday - Friday, 
10 AM - 2 PM

Worship 8 AM, 10:30 AM, & 7 PM 
Sunday School 9:15 AM -10:15 AM




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Christ Our Savior Newsletter is published monthly and produced in  email and print versions.
Contact Info 
(913)837-4502

If we've missed your birthday or anniversary contact COS Office so we can update our records.