Times for Church and Bible Study Sunday School 9AM

Worship 10AM Nursery 0-4 years – downstairs

Children’s Church (Grades 4 & Under) Children’s Sermon (Grades 4 & Under)

Tues Nights:

6:30pm—8:00pm—Awana

Wed Nights: 6:30pm – 7:30pm - Consumed

Thurs: 9:30am Women’s Bible Study @ church & 2pm Manor Apts

Sat: 8am Men’s Bible Study

99 Ways (on square): Outreach K-6th

Leadership Team Deaconess

Pastor Sheldon Claudette

Pastor Darrin Becky

Gene Rebecca

Bill Dana

Mike Chris

Dave Kathy

Ladies Ministry Trustees

Leader—Charletta Jim

Martha Buddy

Stephanie Marty

Malane Larry B Malane

December Bible Verse

‘And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ

the Lord.’ Luke 2:9-11

Faith Fellowship 230 South Fillmore

PO Box 462

Osceola, IA 50213

Website: www.osceolafaithfellowship.org

Pastor Sheldon Lorenson Pastor Darrin Baumfalk—Youth Pastor

Phone: 641-342-6603 Phone: 641-342-6603

Cell: 641-414-1128 Cell: 515-491-8545

Email: oefc@iowatelecom.net Email: pastorrocs@iowatelecom.net

December Newsletter 2014 Pastor Sheldon’s Corner: ‘

Christmas Is Celebration It's that time of year again. December has come and with it all the joys of Christmas. But what is the real meaning of Christmas? Is it the gifts under the tree, the lights in the windows, the cards in the mail, turkey dinners with family and friends, snow in the yard, stockings hanging in the living room, and shouts of "Merry Christmas" to those who pass us in the streets? Is this really Christmas? For many people, Christmas is a time of sorrow. They don't have the extra money to buy presents for their children, family, and friends. Many are saddened at Christmastime when they think of their loved ones who will not be able to come home for various reasons. Turkey dinners may be only a wish and not a reality for some. Yet, Christmas can be a season of great joy. It is a time of God showing His great love for us. It can be a time of healing and renewed strength. You see, Christmas is when we celebrate the birth of the Christ child. God sent His Son, Jesus, into the world to be born. His birth brought great joy to the world. Shepherds, wise men, and angels all shared in the excitement of knowing about this great event. They knew this was no ordinary baby. The prophets had told of His coming hundreds of years before. The star stopped over Bethlehem just to mark the way for those who were looking for this special child. Why did He come? Why did God send His son to this sometimes cruel and hard world? He sent Jesus to us so that one day, He would grow up to become a very important part of history. His story (history) is one of truth, love, and hope. It brought salvation to all of us. Without Jesus, we would all die in our sins. Jesus was born so one day the price could be paid for the things we have done that are wrong. The Bible says that all have sinned.(Romans 6:23) We are all born with a sin nature. We do things that do not please God. Through the sins of Adam and Eve, we have all inherited that sin nature. We need to have that re-moved. The only way is through Jesus. Jesus came so He could die on the cross for ALL of our sins. If we believe that Jesus died for our sins, we can ask Him to come into our hearts and forgive us. Then, we are clean and made whole. We can know that heaven is a place where we can go to when this life is over.

Continued...Pastor’s Column: "But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong." I John 1:9 We can truly be happy at Christmas! No matter what may be happening, we can know that we are His children. We then become sons and daughters of God. Heaven will be our home one day. Look at Christmas in a new way this year. This is the year to invite Jesus into your heart. You will then have a "Merry Christmas." The joy and peace you will receive will last all year as you look to God for all your needs to be met. Jesus Is The Reason For The Season! Rejoice! Pastor Sheldon Lorenson

Coming in January 2015! A six-week small group study by Rick Warren entitled:

Throughout this campaign you will discover the answer to life’s most funda-mental question: ‘What on earth am I here for’? You were created by God and for God, and until you understand that, life will never make sense. Plan to be a part of a small group this winter.

"First Things First" Christmas Concert Sunday, December 7th at 10 am, Faith Fellowship will be hosting "First Things First", Ladies Quar-tet from Mt Ayr They will be presenting their Christmas concert, "The Greatest Story Ever Told" singings various Christmas carols and familiar holiday songs. Please invite your family and friends for this time of celebration. The group will be setting up at the 9 am Sunday School hour, so adult Sunday School class will be moved up to the fellowship Hall area. For more information, please see the concert flier posted in the church. A Free will offering will be taken for this group.

January 3, 2015 at 10am—Brunch at church for Stephanie Briggs

January 17, 2015 at 10am—Brunch at church for Stacia Taylor

February date—TBA for Nicole Jimmerson

ALL HAVING:

Kids Calendar: Tuesday night at AWANA we serve a snack and looking for donation:

December 2nd is F.U.D.G. Night—Bring your Father, Uncle, Dads, Grandfathers to see what you do at

AWANA.

NO AWANA—December 23rd or 30th.

If you would like to donate snacks, please contact LeaAnn Kirsher or Kristi Shelton if you have any ques-

tions. If you would like to donate money for food contact Claudette Lorenson.Thanks so much, Awana

Kids really appreciate what Faith Fellowship is doing for them.

STORE NIGHT: We are looking for donation for boy toys for store night. Ideas: cars, trucks,

balls, slinking's (toys for: pre-school to 6th grade). Thank you church family! Any questions you

can ask Malane and/or Martha.

Upcoming Events

December 5th—Ladies Christmas Party December 7th—First Things First-Ladies Quartet from Mt. Ayr December 14th--Christmas Program 6 pm. December 24th---Christmas Eve Candlelight Service 6 pm. December 31st---New Year’s Eve Fun and Fellowship Night 6 pm January 5-8th ---Men’s Fishing Retreat to Lake of the Woods.

Pastor Darrin—Consumed Love must be sincere. hate what is evil: cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in pray-er. Share with the Lord's people who are in need. practice hospitality. Romans 12:9-13 If we as Christians could practice this one passage, we could conquer the world. Love God, and love your neighbor, That sounds pretty simple. Doesn't it? But putting it into practice is another matter. This passage teaches how love looks when it is put into action. There is some real power in the words of this scripture: love, cling, honor, zeal, serving, joyful, patient, faithful, and hospi-tality. All these actions work together, flowing back and forth in our hearts as we implement them. The more I love others, the more joy I have. The more I clinic to good, the more patient I become. The more faithful I am in prayer, the more zealous I am for the Lord. The more I prac-tice hospitality, the more my desire to serve others grows. It all begins with Love!! If we could put this scripture in action all the time......It would feel like Christmas year round!! Thanks - A special thank you to all who organized, and helped with the pie baking day for the Consumed pie fund raiser! I and Jeff were not able to be present and it was great to know that others were willing to step up and be a mature spiritual example for our youth. A huge thank you to all who bought pies, prayed, and supported our youth group during this fund raiser. A special thanks to Autumn Shelton, Noah Heasley, Michaela Heasley, and Macey Bracken for selling and baking the pies. These four young people have won a special fun night out with Jeff Blettner and Pastor Darrin for stepping up and working so hard! Also a special thanks to all of you for the support, prayers and encouragement, you gave Con-sumed during preparation and delivery of the youth service in November! A special thanks to Jess & Casey Stephens for their donation of the hard drive and music to Consumed!!!! Prayer Requests- Michael Galloway- health and healing, Owen Tracy- health and healing, Continued Guidance for all of our students in jr high, high school, and college. Thanks to God for the success of our change to Sunday Youth Services and again for the van We pray that the Lord enlarge our territory with the communities youth Thanks be to God for the successful youth service in November December Events 5 - Collection of Hats & Mittens end for the Consumed Drive 9 - Impact Registration Deadline 13 - Consumed Volunteer @ Hope Ministries 13 - Consumed Christmas Party 14 - Christmas Program @ 6:00pm @ The Church 24 - Christmas Eve Service 25 - Christmas Jan 2-4 - Impact Retreat- Des Moines I want to thank everyone for the prayers, cards, and gifts during pastor appreciation month, and for my birthday last month. It is a blessing to be a part of such a loving and supportive church family!! The Baumfalk's are praying that you all have a blessed Christmas season, and that we all

Women’s Ministry News:

Events coming up:

Friday, December 5 - Ladies Christmas Party at Church fellowship Hall. A Night of relaxa-tion with Christmas lights, singing, soups & salads and more to come!! Please reserve this night now!! Contact Claudette if you would like to be a part of this holiday celebration. Ladies Weekend Retreat for January Plans are being made for a possible January Friday-Saturday ladies retreat at Camp Jericho near Lucas. It is your choice, if you want to come Friday night only, stay overnight or just come on Satur-day morning only. Meals are approx $5 each, total weekend would be approx $30. In order for us to reserve the camp, we would need at least 25- 30 ladies to commit. Possible dates are pending. If interested, please contact Claudette or Charletta.

Women’s Bible Study Thursday, 9:30 – 11:00 AM.

Men’s Ministry News:

Saturday mornings located at Clarke County Hospital cafeteria at 8am

Men’s Group—Starting a men’s group and encourage all men to join!

Will meet in small groups of 3 men each...sign up sheet in back.

If you have anything that you would like to add please contact

sbriggs1@iowatelecom.net or call 641-449-3433.

Ministry and Nursery Schedule

December:

Greeters: Ushers:

7 Wilbert 7 Jim/Scott/Gene/Buddy

14 McCuddin 14 Gene/Buddy/Jim/Scott

21 McLin 21 Bill/David/Larry/Ron

28 Sadler 28 Larry/Ron/Marty/Don

Nursery: 2 people at all times Communion:

7 Gene L/Malane M

14 Chris W/Claudette L 14 Rebecca

21 Tammy T/Carol J

28 Nathan D/Linda B

Birthdays:

12/3—Marty Oehlert

12/6—Jesse McLin

12/10—Danelle Taylor

12/18—Pat Blake

12/20—Audrey Sadler

12/28—Rebecca Watt

12/29—Jean Winter

Anniversary:

12/18—Kent & Gayle McCuddin

MERRY CHRISTMAS—December 25th!!!

MISSIONARIES OF THE MONTH

John & Jo Beth Lee serving in

Japan with EFCA.