FIRST LUTHERAN CHURCH AND SCHOOL — HELENA, MONTANA

Seek FIRST His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Matthew 6:33

Special December/January Dates

First Edition Book Club………....Dec. 2 Home of Bridget Michel First Sunday of Advent………….Dec. 3 Women’s Christmas Event….….Dec. 7 Second Sunday of Advent…….Dec. 10 Sunday School Christmas Service O.W.L.S. Christmas event…….Dec. 14 Third Sunday of Advent….……Dec. 17 FLS Christmas Program……....Dec. 22 FLS Christmas Break..Dec. 22—Jan. 1 Classes resume at FLS………....Jan. 2 Fourth Sunday of Advent……..Dec. 24 Christmas Eve Christmas Day………………….Dec. 25 New Year’s Day………………….Jan. 1 The Epiphany of our Lord….…...Jan. 6 First Edition Book Club Home of Linda Fromm WOW! Bible Study begins……...Jan. 9 LifeLights Foundations: Parables WOW! Bible Study……………..Jan. 23

In This Issue A joyous time of feasting……………..2 A Word from the Pastor………………3 Advent & Christmas Worship………..4 Schedule WOW! Bible Study Schedule…..……5 December/January Birthdays………..6 Happenings at Our School…………..7

Volume 19, Issue 3 December 2017

MDC ornaments adorn National Christmas Tree in Washington, DC During the craft activity following a recent Bible study, Montana Developmen-tal Center residents in Boulder made three ornaments for the U. S. Capitol Christmas tree. The ornaments were sent to Libby, where they were attached to the tree cut in the Kootenai National Forest. The tree has been erected on the west lawn of the U. S. Capitol. Many materials for these ornaments were donated by members of First Lu-theran: juice can lids from Sus Everson, outdoor paint from Donna Pare, CDs from the Sunday School supplies, and plastic water bottles donated earlier in the sum-mer. A Thrivent Financial grant provided funds to purchase stick-on gems, glitter and Gorilla Glue (the ornaments had to be waterproof!).

The residents then made ornaments to present to First Lutheran congregational members as a Thank You for your sup-port. There were a limited number of or-naments available for pick up after the worship service on Thanksgiving Eve, and we know the families who were fortu-nate enough to garner one of these unique ornaments will greatly enjoy them during this special season! — Marcy Carroll

The First Word

God’s promises are as good as done Upon the birth of the one who’d become known as John the Baptist, his father, Zechariah, praised God. Zechariah broke his nine-month inability to speak with these words: “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has looked favorably on his people and redeemed them. He has raised up a mighty savior for us in the house of his servant David, as he spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from of old” (Luke 1:68-70, NRSV).

Notice how Zechariah describes God’s actions as if they had already happened! In Good News of Great Joy, John Piper writes, “Nine months earlier, Zechariah could not believe his wife would have a child. Now, filled with the Holy Spirit, he is so confident of God’s redeeming work in the coming Messiah that he puts it in the past tense. For the mind of faith, a promised act of God is as good as done.”

If our greatest need had been information, God would have sent us an educator.

If our greatest need had been technology, God would have sent us a scientist.

If our greatest need had been money, God would have sent us an economist.

If our greatest need had been pleasure, God would have sent us an entertainer.

But our greatest need was forgiveness and acceptance, so God sent us a Savior.

— Author Unknown

Members of the First Edition Book Club will meet at 12:15 p.m. on Saturday, December 2, at the home of Bridget Michel. If you have not already done so, please RSVP to Bridget by calling 449-2079. The group is reading Because of Bethlehem, by New York Times bestselling author Max Lucado.

New members are always welcome! Please see Bridget if you would like more information about the group.

Christmas is coming. It is a joyous time of feasting. The Church feasts upon the Word of God in sermon, song, and Sacrament. We hear the proclamation of the message of the angels: “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 2:10–11). We mingle our voices with theirs as we sing, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased” (Luke 2:14)! We receive the proclaimed Savior, Christ the Lord, not wrapped in swad-dling clothes and lying in manger, but wrapped in bread and wine placed into our mouths for the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. We feast in great joy indeed because of this great blessing from our Lord

and God. God’s people in ancient Israel also feasted with great joy. The Lord show-ered His abundant blessing on His peo-ple. And He commanded them to feast upon it (Deut. 16). The people were to go to the place appointed, where the Lord would make His name dwell, and give offerings, each man as he was able, according to the blessing of the Lord that He had given them (Deut. 16:10, 15, 17). And there the Lord would bless them with joy as they feasted upon what the Lord had provided. They ate of the choice parts of their offerings. They enjoyed the company of all the people of God as they together heard His promises of blessing, sang of His bountiful goodness, and partook of what He gave. We feast on the Word who became flesh to dwell among us, not just dur-

ing Christmas, but throughout all the year. We feast not just on the salvation He has wrought for us in His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, but we feast also on all the temporal blessings that God gives out of His fatherly divine good-ness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness in us. We enjoy the rich bounty that God provides, not only in Word and Sacra-ment, but also in house and home, property and income, family and friends. Let us then, as did our brothers in the faith from ancient Israel, give as we are able, according to the blessing of the Lord our God that He has given us.

— LCMS website

Oct. 2017 FY 2018 Y-T-D Income $50,239.94 $168,397.97 Expense $53,610.01 $162,171.25 Gain/Loss ($ 3,370.07) $ 6,226.72 Special Use of Savings (Church) $ 0.00 $ 0.00 Special Use of Savings (School) $ 0.00 $ 0.00 Overall Total ($ 3,370.07) $ 6,226.72

A report from your Board of Finance

Published monthly by: First Lutheran Church 2231 Broadway Helena, MT 59601 (406)442-5367 Rev. Larry A. Miller…………….………………………Pastor Linda Fromm………………………...……….……….....Editor Susan McCormack………………...Calendar/Servant Schedule Volunteer Staff………………….…………..Printing/Collation

Deadline for the January/February First Word is Wed., January 17. Place articles in the First

Word box in the church office or e-mail them to: lindafromm@mac.com

The First Word

Page 2 The First Word—December 2017 Volume 19, Issue 3

A joyous time of feasting — from your Board of Stewardship

Mission & Ministry Council

Officers John Stelter…….……….President Steve Longsworth...Vice President Linda Fromm…………...Secretary Steven Johnson………....Treasurer

At-Large Members

Bruce Duenkler Dick Ellwein

Matt Elvbakken Peggy Trenk

Duane Westerbuhr

Volume 19, Issue 3 The First Word—December 2017 Page 3

Pastor’s

Page Let’s Follow

the Star!

In these seasons of Advent and Christmas and Epiphany, we are reminded again that it’s time to find our way to Bethlehem, where the fullness of God’s love and salvation are cradled in a baby, an infant named “Jesus.” It’s a time to remember again all the divine promises and prophecies that God is determined to do: to send a Savior, to rescue and redeem his people forever. It’s time to follow the bright star of God’s Word which will lead us to the surest peace and joy we could ever know.

Often times, the Christmas story can become “old hat.” We’ve heard it all before. Sometimes family traditions

and customs can become more “sacred” than the story itself. Advent calls us to ready ourselves – ready ourselves for the mystery of Christmas – the “Word made flesh.” Prepared and ready, we follow and experience anew the source of our perfectly designed salvation with the birth of Christ.

Advent and Christmas and Epiphany are also the perfect times to invite others to come follow the star and discover the Savior. There are so many people who get swept up and lost in the secular celebrations of the holidays. Their joy is shallow and temporary. Many even suffer from serious depression during these days. There is little real light among all that holiday glitter.

A young businessman was rushed to the hospital in serious condition, where the doctors who examined him thought that he might not survive. He was not a religious man, but prior to his accident he had heard the song, “God Will Take Care of You” on his radio. Ever since then, he wasn’t able to get it out of his mind. Finally, he started to pray, and as he did, he felt a wonderful, hopeful surge of energy.

It was a Sunday morning, almost Christmas Day. He heard a group of nurses worshiping in a

room just down the hall. He struggled out of bed and wheeled himself into their room where he heard the message of Jesus Christ and by the power of the Holy Spirit, he understood for the first time ever the meaning of the Christmas: the coming of the Savior and he believed in Jesus.

He recovered from his injuries and remained faithful to Christ the rest of his life.

The young businessman’s name was – J.C. Penny.

At times we see the bumper sticker or the coffee mug that read: “Wise men still follow Him.” Advent and Christmas send out the same message. As we hear that message ourselves, we, like the shepherds go and tell others the great Good News and invite them to follow the star.

Shari and I pray that this awe-filled, mysterious, joyous season will lead you to a new

and lasting walk with “the Word made flesh,” Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world.

The peace, joy, love and life in Christ be yours this Christmas this new year and always!

There will be NO 11:00 a.m. Worship on December 24

nesday – December 20

– 12:10 & 6:30 p.m. – ll His Name Jesus ~ Emmanuel

unday – December 24

– 8:15 a.m. –

There will be NO Midweek Worship on December 27

Page 4 The First Word—December 2017 Volume 19, Issue 3

Our Wednesday Midweek Advent Services

celebrate the wonderful names of our Savior:

Jesus, Lamb, Shepherd, Emmanuel, Son and the Word.

Our Sunday Advent Worship

will invite us to draw near to Jesus,

Who has come to Bethlehem,

is coming into our hearts,

and will come again on the Last day!

Wednesday – November 29

– 12:10 & 6:30 p.m. – Call His Name Jesus

Wed

Ca

Sunday – December 3 S

– 8:15 & 11:00 a.m. – Advent 1

Wednesday – December 6

– 12:10 & 6:30 p.m. – Call His Name Jesus ~ The Lamb

Sunday – December 10

– 8:15 a.m. – Advent 2

– 11:00 a.m. – Children’s Christmas Service

Wednesday – December 13

– 12:10 & 6:30 p.m. – Call His Name Jesus ~ The Shepherd

Sunday – December 17

– 8:15 & 11:00 a.m. – Advent 3

Christmas Eve

– 5:00 and 7:00 p.m. – Call His Name Jesus ~ Son

– 11:00 p.m. –

Candlelight and Communion

Monday – December 25

– 10:00 a.m. – Christmas Day – Call His Name Jesus ~ The Word

Sunday – December 31

– 8:15 & 11:00 a.m. – New Year’s Celebration

O come, let us adore Him! O come, let us adore Him!

O come, let us adore Him, Christ, the Lord!

Please join us to worship our Savior,

this Advent, Christmas and Epiphany!

Volume 19, Issue 3 The First Word—December 2017 Page 5

Special Christmas celebrations planned for developmentally disabled members

First’s Board of Human Care has once again set up the “undecorating” Christmas tree in the narthex of the church, beautifully decorated with unique ornaments, each of which includes the name of one of our developmentally dis-abled members. Members of the congregation are encouraged to take an ornament and purchase a bath sheet for the person whose name is on the ornament. The gift should be wrapped and include either the ornament—or a gift tag with the person’s name—and brought back to the church no later than Sunday, December 10. We have about 300 friends for whom to pro-vide gifts this year, and for many of those this will be their only gift. The Christmas worship service and dinner for our developmentally disabled members in Boulder will be held Tuesday, December 12, at 5 p.m. at the Montana Developmental Center Chapel. Our Helena friends will celebrate at the Gateway Center on Thursday, December 14, at 5 p.m. Volunteers are always welcome—and needed—for these special holiday celebrations. If you would like to be included in one—or both—please speak with Lowell Bartels or call the church office at 442-5367.

LifeLight Foundations:

Parables The Women Of the Word (WOW) will be studying this nine-session, small- group in-depth Bible study. We will look at selected parables of Jesus and their meaning for our lives. We meet every second and fourth Tuesday at church at 7 p.m. Sessions include:

January 9 and 23 February 13 and 27

March 13 and 27 April 10 and 24 May 8

Mark these dates on your planners, tablets, phones, calendars, and join us! Talk to Shari Miller for more details.

WOW! Bible Study, LifeLight Foundations:

Parables, begins January 9, 2018, at 7 p.m.

Session 1: Why Parables? - Matthew 13:34-35 Session 2: Something Old, Something New—Matthew 9:15-17 Session 3: A Most Radical Grace—John 10:11 Session 4: Lost and Found—Luke 15:7 Session 5: Keeping Faith—John 15:5 Session 6: Living Mercy—Luke 10:36-37 Session 7: The Coming Judgment—Matthew 21:21-32 Session 8: Looking for Judgment Day—Matthew 25:21 Session 9: Watching for Eternity—Matthew 24:45-47

12/02 Christmas Service Rehearsal 10 a.m. 12/03 Christmas Service Rehearsal 10 a.m. 12/09 Christmas Service Rehearsal 10 a.m. 12/10 Sunday School Christmas Service 11 a.m. 12/17 Special Christmas lesson Luke 2:1-2 12/24 No Sunday School 12/31 No Sunday School 1/07/2018 Naaman and Elisha 2 Kings 5:1-14 1/14 Jonah Book of Jonah 1/21 Hezekiah Prays 2 Kings 18-19 1/28 Jeremiah and God’s New Covenant Jeremiah 1:4-10, 29:1-14, 31:31-34, 33:14-16

Sunday School lesson/Christmas Service practice schedule

*Sunday School* *Christmas Service*

Page 6 The First Word—December 2017 Volume 19, Issue 3

December/January Birthdays! December 1

Jalyn Gardipee Lindsay McCarthy

December 3 Marissa Lebahn

Jacob Sparks December 4 Julie Eklund Dan Malaski

Sharon Malaski December 5

Tammi Gozelanski Pamela Koenig

December 7 Jess Wareham December 9

Patricia Jacobs Megan Taylor Tom Taylor

December 10 Keith Newmeyer

December 14 Laura Bjerke

Howard Davis Benjamin McIntosh

December 15 Pat Clinch

Robert Wagner December 16 Marilyn Petek December 17 Megan Davis Peni Jo Jones

December 18 Leona Boland Ed Hartman

December 19 Karen Giulio December 20 Joan Nicholls December 21

Lynn Koch December 22 Joyce Burgett December 24 Paul Baumann Doug Gedrose December 26

David Goodson December 27 Chantel Duty December 28 Ninah Kerr

December 29 Danielle Blair

Raye Newmeyer Sandee Riemann

December 30 Richard Bridegroom

Sabrina Brott Donna Pare

Malachi Rickman

January 1 Ben Gregory January 2

Mark Miner Savannah Morgan

January 4 Robert Veach III

January 6 Stacey Weber

January 7 Clarice Cook Lauren Hoxie

January 8 AJ Buhr

Landon Gilbert Marlys Jarvis Jason Mercer

January 9 Bob Summerer Marge Ulmer January 10

Jana Spaulding Audree Spurzem

January 11 Wally Smith January 12

Stephanie Giulio Augustus Hanson

January 14 Bernice Haycraft

January 15 Jacob Malaski

January 16 Matthew Bridegroom

January 17 Mary Daly

Barbara Ehrlich

January 19 Cooper Brilz Steven Leitzke

Bert Poor January 21

Dan McGrane January 22

Connor Koenig Jayden Nachtsheim

Lisa Peterson January 23 Tara Mercer January 24

Patricia Martin January 28

Johanna Allen Joni Veach Ryan Veach January 29 Susan Buhr Lois Lebahn January 30

Matthew Shields January 31

Lauren Antonick Brock Gardipee

Vera Lynn Elmer Simon

It’s His birthday, after all! Do you stress about finding just the right gift for everyone on your Christmas list? Does it make the season more a hassle than a joy? Pastor Mike Slaughter reminds us that Christmas isn’t about perfect presents for people, as if it were their birthday — or ours. Christmas is about the perfect presence of Immanuel, God with us, through the birth of Jesus; it’s his birthday, after all!

In Christmas Is Not Your Birth-day (Abingdon), Slaughter writes,

“How funny that it can be so hard to find gifts that will please certain family mem-bers or friends — the people who seem to have everything — and yet it is so clear what the Lord of lords and King of kings wants for his birthday. God wants you

— your time, your talent and your treasure — used in service to oth-ers.”

He came a babe of lowly birth. He was God’s Son of greatest worth. We, like the angels, sing with mirth Because God sent his Son to earth To ransom us and claim our worth. Praise God this babe of lowly birth! — MaryAnn Sundby

Volume 19, Issue 3 The First Word—December 2017 Page 7

Happenings at First Lutheran School Pastor

Rev. Larry A. Miller Director

Stacy Smith

Teachers Lisa Kimmet, Stacy Smith, Heidi Hultin, Allyson Briese

& Melissa Mousel

First Lutheran School’s Christmas break starts right after our Christmas program

on December 22nd, and goes through Monday, January 1st. School resumes on

Tuesday, January 2nd.

We had such a demand for Christmas

wreaths this year that we required two shipments! Your wreath, if you didn’t

order from one of our students, will be here on December 3rd.

First Lutheran School’s Christmas Program, titled “A Night in Bethlehem,” will be held on Friday,

December 22, at 10 a.m., with refreshments to follow! Please join us as we celebrate the birth of our Savior!

November and December are busy months for Mrs. Kimmet’s preschool class! Preschoolers are learning a song about Abraham and Sarah that they sang for the Wednesday night church service on November 29th. They will be working on songs for the Christmas program next. These little ones are learning the letters in their first names, learning numbers into double digits, and are working hard learning the days of the week. They’ve also been studying the story of Jacob, and the story of Moses.

December is a whirlwind in Mrs. Mousel’s first, second and third grade classroom. The third grade class has just finished a multiplication unit. Now they will be focusing on data and money. Second grade will be work-ing on data, time, and patterns. First grade will be adding and subtracting using numbers up to 20, and will join the second grade with the study of patterns. Besides learning songs and lines for the upcoming Christmas program, the class will be focusing on writing their own stories. In Social Studies, we are learning about landforms, waterways and how to read maps. The second grade class has started to learn cursive and the third grade class is using cursive more frequently. We will begin the Christmas Story with the birth of John the Baptist and the wondrous events surrounding our Lord Jesus Christ’s coming.

By this time last year, we had two dif-ferent “dine-outs” to raise funds for our school. We have some Taco John’s and Mackenzie River Pizza nights scheduled for this winter. Keep your eyes peeled for specific dates and vouchers in your weekly bulletin! If you aren’t taco or pizza fans, but still want to use those nights to donate to the school, we will have donation envelopes you can use. As always, your support of our ministry does not go unnoticed. Thank you!

In Mrs. Hultin’s Kindergarten room this month, we will be busy practicing for our Christmas program. We will be learning numbers 7-10 in Math. In Science, we will be learning about living and non-living things, as well as starting a unit about animals. We’ll be making Christmas gifts for our parents and learning about the true meaning of Christmas: Jesus’ birthday!

Mrs. Smith’s Pre-Kindergarten class is heading into December with excitement! Aside from practicing our songs for the Christmas program, we are reading, writing, and counting like crazy. We know the days of the week and the months of the year. We have learned 10 letters with which we have been blending vowels and consonants together since October. This month, we are starting to count all the way to 100, are writing our last names, and learning how to write numbers 1-15. For our Bible stories, we are going to learn about Jesus’ birth.

Season’s Greetings from Grades 4 & 5! We hope your holiday season started in fine fashion with Thanksgiving! We have been extremely busy with a variety of projects. Each student made a darling set of little pilgrims out of clay pots for their Thanksgiv-ing table. We completed a study of all U. S. War involvements from 1775 forward to the present, culminated it with typed research reports on key conflicts of the students’ choosing, and dioramas that illustrate a major event during that war. We will begin a science unit on the study of Machines and Motion and will be building our own individual “robots” to culminate this unit after Christmas break! In Math, we will be moving into decimals, while still honing our long division and algebra skills. In addition to our regular Language Arts cur-riculum, we are incorporating the reading of the book I Am Malala. We are reading it and discussing it together—much like a book club—which ties in nicely to our Social Studies. I am so proud of this group! I have high expectations of these students and they always rise to the challenge. As a class, we look forward to participating in the weekly Advent services and hope to see you there!

First Lutheran Church & School 2231 Broadway Helena, MT 59601 Phone: (406)442-5367 Fax: (406)442-5285 School Phone: (406)442-6913 Web site: www.firstlutheranhelena.org E-mail: firstlutheranchurch@bresnan.net

FIRST LUTHERAN CHURCH is a Congregation of The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod THE MISSION of First Lutheran Church is “Sharing God’s Word with Everyone, Everywhere!”

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