December

2019

www.cflconline.org

Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord! 11 And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of in-cense. 12 And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. 13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Eliza-beth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John.

Luke 1:11–13 (ESV) Our advent theme this year is the “Angels of Advent.” The word “angel” in the Greek can be trans-lated “messenger.” Angels in the Bible often brought the messages of God to the people of God. And the place we see this occur the most is their announcing of the arrival of the Messiah. The angel Gabriel appeared to Zechariah in the Temple, and later he appeared to Mary the mother of Jesus. In another instance, an angel appeared to Joseph (Mary’s betrothed) in a dream, encour-aging him to follow through with the wedding. An angel even approached the shepherds who watched their flocks by night in Luke chapter 2, and announced the coming of a Savior in Bethle-hem. And Scripture says, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” God’s messengers are the angels. This advent season, we are going to study their message to us. Advent means “arrival.” With the arrival of the Savior, God sent his messengers to announce that a miracle had occurred. It is going to be such a rich season this advent as we look to God’s coming and the messengers who announced his arrival. God loves you, he came for you, and God has an-nounced his coming for us in the Word! God bless you all this advent season.

Pastor Aaron Olson

Calvary Free Lutheran Church PO Box 303

Arlington, SD 57212

605-983-5254

But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. Luke 1:13

December Birthdays

Bud Anderson 12-4

Austin Hillestad 12-5

Samantha Leighton 12-6

Jan Mobley 12-9

Holli Spilde 12-15

Michael Folsland 12-17

Frank Hoff 12-17

Chloe Gross 12-19

Brad Steffensen 12-19

Miranda Johnson 12-24

Crystal Steffensen 12-25

Jessica Smith 12-27

Kathy Hanson 12-27

Brianna Hope 12-29

Megan Timm 12-30

Larry Larsen 12-30

December Anniversaries

Todd & Melonie Huntimer 12-3-1982

Larry & Rena Larsen 12-6-1964

Rich & Mary Grebel 12-17-1971

Brad & Anita Thuringer 12-18-1987

Joel & Wanda Weese 12-18-1974

Rev Aaron & Michelle Olson 12-27-2008

Brad & Cathy Folsland 12-30-1978

If your birthday or anniversary is not listed, please let us know so that we can celebrate your special day with you!

December 14th

We will be having our annual Calvary Free Family Christmas gathering on Saturday, December 14th at 6:00pm. This evening is to celebrate Christmas as a family, a church family. As we get busy with the hus-tle and bustle of the holiday season, we may not al-ways get the time to be with each other. On Decem-ber 14th, we will have an evening of “laid back” to-getherness. We rarely have the chance to sit back and visit… just have good ol’ fellowship with one anoth-er. I LOVE to listen to the sound of a room and hear the “buzz” of laughter or watch hand and arm ges-tures flying around as people are telling stories or see people’s faces light up as they speak of their favorite memories. Looking around the room, you can actual-ly see it…. It’s LOVE! We are blessed at this church. We have a family here, and Christmas time is a wonderful time to get together to embrace it! One thing to let you know, there are not any committees needed for this night. It’s just a fun easy-going night in which everything will be set up and everything will be taken down with no worries. We want to make things as simple as possible. Remember, It’s a “laid back” night. (wink, wink) We will be having an APPETIZER & HOLIDAY TREAT POT LUCK. Instead of a full blown pot luck supper, we will be having an appetizer/snacky kind of even-ing. If you feel lead to bring an appetizer/snack or holiday treat, that would be appreciated & wonder-ful! Hot apple cider, coffee, and water will be provid-ed. Our “laid back” evening will consist of a few sched-uled events. We plan on: visiting, eating, watching a Christmas movie (TBD), singing Christmas carols, and a few other possibilities which may still need to be worked out. This night is for EVERYONE, not only CFLC attendees. Please invite loved ones, family, and friends. Everyone is more than welcome to come and join in on the Calvary Free Family Christmas! We look forward to a wonderful night with family! If you have any questions, please ask Heidi.

December 24

December 24th at 4:30.

All are welcome & invited to come!

Come Let Us Adore Him!

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Zechariah

Sunday School

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Mary

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THERE WILL NOT BE SUNDAY SCHOOL

DECEMBER 29TH. WORSHIP SERVICE will be at 10:30

Sunday School Christmas Program

December 8 10:30 AM

Youth Freed Youth will be meeting and having their Christmas party Wednesday, December 11th at 6:30. Supper will be served and FUN will be had! As always, friends are always welcome! Freed Youth is for youth ages 7th-12th Grade. It’s a place where they can come and be together with other teen youth while learning, seeking, and asking questions about God while having fun in a loving atmosphere.

Free and Living Youth…Freed from our sins… Free for all to come

LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION! Mark your calendars for December 8th! The Calvary Free Lutheran Sunday School kids and youth will be leading the 10:30 worship service and blessing us with their Christmas pro-gram. You will not want to miss it! There will be a light lunch to follow in the Fellow-ship Hall. Invite your family and friends. Everyone is welcome!

Freed

“The Westward Christmas Brides,” by Wanda E. Brunstetter, is a collection of nine historical romances about Christmas dreams realized in the Old West during the winters of the 1800s and written by nine different authors. Another fiction book is an Amish Heirloom novel: “The Forgotten Recipe,” by Amy Clipston. The recipe is grandma’s Raspberry Pie. “The Power Of A Clear Conscience,” by Erwin W. Lutzer, is subtitled Let God Free

You From Your Past. Lutzer writes: Guilt is not God trying to push us away from Him, but rather God trying to put His arms around us. Romans 8 is one of the greatest chapters in the entire Bible. If the Bible were a ring with many different gemstones in it, the middle stone--that is, the point of the Diamond--would be the book of Ro-mans. In Romans Paul makes it clear that we are not only forgiven, but God has

legally declared us to be as righteous as He Himself is. Luther understood that nobody gets to heaven unless he’s as perfect as God. And that’s correct. There is simply no way we can achieve that kind of righteousness. Unless, of course, God gives it to us. The biblical term for what God has done is justification. It’s a legal term by which God says, ‘In my sight, I pronounce you perfect, forgiven, forever.’ When you are feeling guilt for that which has been forgiven, you need to say, ‘Conscience, you perform an important function in my life, but right now you are lying to me. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.’ As a believer, you stand righteous before God because of the work of Jesus Christ! Sophocles: There is no witness so terrible and no accuser so powerful as conscience which dwells within us. John Piper: All peace inwardly and peace outwardly is based on this vertical experience of: Do I have peace with God? Is it open and clear with God? Are we friends? Charles Swindoll: By saying that we cannot forgive ourselves, we elevate our judgment above the Lord’s. We think that we know better than He does; He might be quick to forgive, but we are not so simple. yet what right do we have to hang on to something that God released? Joseph Campbell: We must be willing to get rid of the life we’ve planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us. Billy Graham: God will not force Himself upon us against our will. If we want His life, we need to believe in Him. We need to make a definite, positive act of commitment and surrender to the love of God. No one can do it for us. Thomas Kinkade has been described as “The Painter of Light,” and we now have his book “Lightposts for Living,” He writes about choosing a joyful life and the book has lots of his lovely artwork. Kinkade recom-mends keeping a joy journal. He says the experience of recording the miscellaneous “blesses” you encounter will build your receptivity and awareness. You may be surprised to discover how much joy your world has to offer. If we are involved in doing what we were put on earth to do, a joyful heart is almost guaranteed--even in the midst of deepest difficulties. Consistent and durable joy is generated when we pursue a passion that is strong enough to carry us past pain, something so meaningful and absorbing that we can ignore unhappy cir-cumstances. The flow of blessings in our life is directly related to our passing blessings along to someone else. One of the most joyful and fun things you can do to tune your heart toward service is to take the advice of the bumper stickers and ‘practice random acts of kindness and senseless acts of beauty.’ The older I grow, the more I suspect that the amount of joy in my heart is directly related to the thank-fulness in my attitude. When I think of the past with gratitude, even my painful memories are softened by a realization that I have survived and learned. When I think of the present with gratitude, my natural impulse is to live in the moment and enjoy it. When I look toward the future with gratitude, I expect tomorrow to be filled with wonderful discoveries and growth, just as yesterday and today have been. Thankfulness can reduce stress in your life by making you more content with who you are and what you have. When I see my life as a series of unfolding miracles, I’ll always sail forth with hope, tranquility, and joy in my heart. It seems pretty ob-vious: If enough people filled their lives with light, the world would be a pretty bright place. But if even one person lives more radiantly and joyfully, the world will still be brighter than it was! Debby Boone: Blessings are like hugs from God to let you know how much He loves you. Counting bless-ings is like hugging God back. Wishing you a Blessed Christmas, Ferne Liebsch 12/19

Lines from the Library

Area Bible Studies

Please call or email for more

information.

605-983-5254

info@cflconline.org Get Plugged In!!

Missionary Focus for the Month:

Arlington Wed. 8:30 p.m.

At Calvary Free

Larry- 605-983-3316

Lake Preston Wed. 7:00 p.m.

Jan-605-847-4700

Oldham Wed. 7:30 p.m.

Joel- 605-482-8404

Brookings Wed. 7:00 p.m.

Rich- 605-692-9817

Volga Wed. 7:00 p.m.

Kendra-605-690-5954

CALVARY FREE LUTHERAN CHURCH P.O. BOX 303 ARLINGTON, SD 57212

Missionary Focus for December ~John Lee Family ~

John and Hannah Lee have accepted a call from AFLC World Missions. The World Missions Committee had a longtime goal of sending John and Hannah to India to help with our pastoral training there. After we realized that it was not possible to send a missionary to India at this time we researched a second country near India were we have well established and reliable contacts. AFLC World Missions made two trips to this Asian country accompanied by John and once by Hannah. After much discussion, thought and prayer, we came to the conclusion that it was not God’s will for the Lees to be deployed to this country at this time. Realizing that John and Hannah have received a call by AFLC World Missions and still feel called to Missions, the World Missions Committee began investigating other options. Through prayer, consultation with the Lees, and an invitation by the Brazilian Field Conference to serve in Brazil the World Missions Committee has decided to deploy the Lees to Brazil. Birthdays: John (July 23), Hannah (Feb 19), Bethany (April 10, 2016), Eliza (May 18, 2017), Ayda (August 28, 2018) Anniversary: June 15 Prayer Concerns: For us as we labor alongside of you for the salvation of a lost and dying world., For us as we settle into a new country, wisdom and grace as we get to know the people of Brazil and the AFLC work in that county., For grace as we learn a new language., Safety and Health of our family.

mailto:info@cflconline.org