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November Shalom 2007
O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever! --Psalm 136:1
We have so much to be thankful for!
We just completed our Worship Enhancement project and are enjoying the benefits of the new sound system, video system and organ. Thanks to the generosity of many in our congregation, we raised more than enough to pay for the project. That's amazing!
We just welcomed seven new families into our membership in our congregation, including five children! These new families bring new gifts and talents into our community of faith! It will be great to get to know them in the weeks and months ahead.
Our campus ministry program and outreach to the OU campus continues to grow. The Tuesday night group has a small but faithful attendance, and students are worshipping and getting involved on Sunday mornings.
Through the Mission Advancement Planning Committee (MAPC) we are planning for the future and beginning to bring the dreams of the Millennium Task Force into reality.
We have men and women who have stepped up and put their names forward for leadership in our community. People willing to join the other committed and faithful leaders in our congregation council, committees and task forces. People willing to make time in busy schedules to see to it that ministry continues here.
The generosity of our congregation never ceases to amaze me. We step up and support mission around the world, finance projects in Tanzania, give to local needs, fill the food pantry box each month and pay for ministry here at ULCSC through our offerings.
These are just a few of the wonderful things happening in our congregation! Our ministry here at University Lutheran is growing, it is reaching out, it is touching people's lives with the Gospel.
This is a good place to be!
Sure, our congregation is not perfect. We have our growing edges. Sometimes we come up short. Sometimes we fail to live up to our ideals. But it would be a sad mistake to just focus on what's wrong and miss all the good things happening.
God is good, and God's goodness is manifest among us all the time. God's love is steadfast, and it is played out in people's lives in our congregation each and every week. Each and every day.
We have so much to be thankful for!
I, for one, look forward to all the opportunities to give thanks that we will have this month. And I will be giving thanks to God for all of YOU.
Peace,
Pastor Mike
Worship Enhancement
Dedication
Sunday, November 11 everyone is invited to a special service of praise and thanksgiving to celebrate the conclusion of our Worship Enhancement project. The service will begin at 3 PM and will feature everything we've added to our worship area in the past year.
We will dedicate the new sound system which has improved everyone's ability to hear the service and given us the ability to mix and balance the sound more effectively.
We will also dedicate the new video system. The video system provides sharper, easier to read images. It also gives us the ability to use video clips, photographs and other graphics to enhance our worship experience.
We will dedicate the new organ. The organ gives our musicians a greater range of expression, and supports congregational singing more effectively.
Finally, we will be dedicating the new Evangelical Lutheran Worship hymnals. Though this addition to our worship experience was not part of the Worship Enhancement project, this celebration will give us an opportunity to offer this new tool for worship up to the Lord.
Please plan to be a part of this special day as we move forward in prayer, praise, worship and devotion to our God!
Everyone is invited to a special service of praise and thanksgiving on Wednesday evening, November 21 starting at 7 PM. This simple service of prayer, scripture and reflection will give us some time to stop and say “thank-you” to God for the many blessings in our lives before the celebrations and feasting on Thursday. If you are in town, plan to stop by the church and join us as we offer our thanks to God!
SOUL, University Lutheran's group for college students and other young adults, is looking for a few more cooks to provide dinner for our Tuesday night gathering. Each week, 10-15 young adults gather for dinner, a prayer service and bible discussion. They really appreciate a home-cooked meal! Cooks have provided everything from casseroles to BBQ pork sandwiches. The group has enjoyed simple meals of soup and bread and lasagna feasts with all the trimmings! Cooks are always invited to join us for dinner! (You can bring your family too!) Sign-up on the SOUL bulletin board in the church narthex or call Gwen Gransberg.
24th Sunday After Pentecost - November 11, 2007
Job 19:23-27a; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-5, 13-17; Luke 20:27-38
What is heaven like? We will explore our expectations and ideas about the afterlife.
Sermon Title: Beyond our Wildest Dreams
25th Sunday After Pentecost – Grow One Sunday - November 18, 2007
Malachi 4:1-2a; 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13; Luke 21:5-19; 2 Corinthians 8:1-15
On our annual pledge Sunday, we will talk about our stewardship and our response to God's many blessings in our lives.
Sermon Title: Eager to Give
Christ the King Sunday - November 25, 2007
Jeremiah 23:1-6; Colossians 1:11-20; Luke 22:33-43
We bring another church year to a close as we celebrate the King who ruled from a cross.
Sermon Title: Remember Me.
Advent 1 - December 2, 2007
Isaiah 2:1-5; Romans 13:11-14; Matthew 24:36-44
Happy New Year! We begin a new church year by thinking about the End.
Sermon Title: In the Days to Come.
In his sermon on October 21 (see the sermon online at http://ulcsc.org/sermons/) Pastor Mike encouraged us all to read our bibles. He mentioned a new initiative by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America called Book of Faith. This new program will provide resources and information for the reading and study of scripture. Check out the Book of Faith website at http://www.elca.org/bookoffaith/. There are also bible reading links on our University Lutheran website http://ulcsc.org.
If you haven't read scripture for a while, or have never done any serious bible reading, Pastor Mike suggests you start by reading the Gospel of Matthew (the Gospel we will be reading in worship in 2008). Starting with a Gospel gives you the opportunity to read the basic story of our faith. After reading a Gospel, read the book of Acts, then one of Paul's letters, like Romans. To read through the bible in a year means reading about three chapters a day. Here is what a schedule for the first four weeks might look like:
|
|
Week 1 |
Week 2 |
Week 3 |
Week 4 |
|
Sunday |
Matthew 1-2 |
Matthew 17-20 |
Acts 9-10 |
Acts 27-28 |
|
Monday |
Matthew 3-4 |
Matthew 21-23 |
Acts 11-13 |
Romans 1-3 |
|
Tuesday |
Matthew 5-7 |
Matthew 24-25 |
Acts 14-16 |
Romans 4-7 |
|
Wednesday |
Matthew 8-10 |
Matthew 26-28 |
Acts 17-19 |
Romans 8-11 |
|
Thursday |
Matthew 11-13 |
Acts 1-4 |
Acts 20-23 |
Romans 12-13 |
|
Friday |
Matthew 14-16 |
Acts 5-7 |
Acts 24-26 |
Romans 14-16 |
|
Saturday |
Sunday's Texts |
Sunday's Texts |
Sunday's Texts |
Sunday's Texts |
SOUL
University Lutheran's group for college students and other young adults.
The next SOUL FOOD will be Sunday, December 2 immediately following late service. SOUL FOOD is a time for fellowship, fun and food at a local restaurant. College students and other young adults are invited to go out on SOUL! The group picks up the tab! Plan on coming… …and bring a friend!
Tuesday Night is SOUL night at University Lutheran! The group meets in the Student Center (the house immediately south of the church). The evening starts with a FREE dinner at 6 PM followed at 6:44 PM by a prayer service and bible study. This semester we are reading through the book of Romans. Come and feed your body and spirit!
The University Lutheran Student Center (the house south of the church) is open for students to study from 7-10 PM, Monday-Thursday. There are tables and sofas, free WI-FI, and pop and munchies in the kitchen! The perfect study environment! A peer minister is always on duty to help you log on to the WI-FI!
This year's gathering for Lutheran college and university students will be happening December 28-January 1 at the City Center Marriott hotel in downtown Denver, CO. The gathering will feature great worship experiences, powerful speakers and Christian musical artist, Agape. For more information, or to register see the Lutheran Student Movement website: http://www.lsm-usa.org/national.htm. The cost is just $330, but SOUL will be picking up most of the cost. To receive SOUL funds, you need to register and talk to Pastor Mike before Tuesday, November 20.
Walk the walk,
Talk
the talk
Over the past month, evangelism has come up in my work a number of times. I've talked about it with youth, with other youth ministry professionals, with pastors and with a study group. Almost across the board the opinion is the same; we evangelize by living our faith. It is our actions that show people the love of God: the consoling word at a time of loss, the latest donation to united way, picking up something for someone else, making a trip to serve a community overseas, the list goes on and on. St. Francis said “Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words.” Many of us have taken this to heart and are active in reaching out to the community with our hands if not our mouths. But is it enough?
The truth is good works don't make you Christian. I know many people who aren't Christian but still have a heart for service and social ministry. So, what shows the world that you do what you do because you are a follower of Jesus Christ? Even wearing a cross isn't a dead giveaway since it has become just another piece of jewelry in pop culture. The only way that anyone who doesn't know you personally or go to church with you will know you are Christian and Lutheran on top of that is for you to tell them! Tell them that you love the world because Christ first loved you. Tell your neighbor that you will be gone Sunday morning at worship service. Tell the people you serve that you are there in response to all that God has done for you. Tell them that they can share in this incredible community that praises God. Tell the Good News!
Thank You!
Thank you to everyone who helped with this year's Haunted House/Halloween Party, especially the high school and middle school students who set it up and ran it. We had treats and games and a piñata filled with candy and games and ghost stories and a load of fun! Good times were had by all.
On Order
The Bible Showcase was a hit! All of the bibles are on order so look for them soon!
Upcoming Events
Nov. 17 - Service with
Nov. 25 - Youth/
Dec, 2 - Advent Event
Dec. 5&12 - Christmas Presence
Dec. 15 - Service- Angel Food pick up 8-10am
Dec. 16 - Sunday School Christmas Program
Dec. 24 - Children's Crèche Service 5pm
Thanksgiving
Banquet
Thanksgiving is almost here and we will once again gather at The Hall at Old Town, 102 west Eufala. The date is Sunday November 18th. at 5:00 p.m. for our annual Thanksgiving Dinner Pot Luck.
There is a sign up sheet in the Narthex for Turkeys, Side dishes and Desserts. This is a great family and friend event for our congregation. Once again we will be having an auction, proceeds of which will go to the Tanzanian Missions. Please check the sign up sheet and join us that evening.
Mark your calendars! Grow-One Sunday is November 18th.
The Stewardship Committee will be using the Grow-One Sunday
stewardship program this year as part of its effort to encourage people
to
respond to the goodness
of God in Jesus Christ by gladly and willingly giving back from
what
they have received, so that their “generosity will result in thanksgiving
to
God” (II Corinthians 9:11).
Grow-One Sunday is a spiritual-growth program as well as a financial campaign. It is based on the biblical theology of “the need of the giver to give” for his or her own spiritual development, not on the “need of the church to receive” in order to balance its budget. Home visits are not part of the process. People complete “Estimate of Giving Cards” during the worship service on Grow-One Sunday (November 18th). This aspect of the service is conducted in a way that creates no personal embarrassment for people who choose not to fill out Estimate of Giving Cards. The amounts people write on their cards are strictly confidential—known only to the individuals who complete the cards, God, and the financial secretary.
In order for this program to be successful two things need to happen. First, you need to come to one of the worship services on November 18th, and second, you need to be ready to fill out an Estimate of Giving Card that day. While there will be opportunities to fill out a card at a later time, the program is designed to motivate people to start thinking early about their financial giving so that they will be ready to make a pledge on November 18th.
As you may have guessed by the name of the program, one of the goals of Grow-One Sunday is to encourage people to consider growing in their giving. Please start to think now if you can raise your giving by one percent of your income or by a dollar amount of your own choosing. You may be surprised when you start to consider ways to increase your giving to find that you could turn a small expenditure you make every day into a contribution instead.
As Christian stewards, we are called to be generous givers - not because of the need for the church to receive, but because we “are willing, as God wants [us] to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve” (I Peter 5:2). Please consider growing a step in your giving and making a pledge to do so November 18th.
Endowment News
This is the time of year we start to think about the holidays, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Many of us also start thinking about ….. taxes. We start looking for ways to reduce the tax bite through charitable donations. If you are one of these people you should consider the University Lutheran Church and Student Center Endowment Trust. All donations are tax deductible and your donation is added to the principal which is not touched. Only the interest earned on the principal is given to groups within the church and deserving groups outside the church. No gift is too small or too large! Just think, you'll get a tax deduction and provide ULC with a gift that will keep on giving year after year after year. This year we are planning distributions to both in-church and external projects, in part due to recent generous contributions. Look for full details in the annual report!
If you are interested in contributing to the ULC Endowment Fund, please talk to a member of the ULC Endowment Fund Committee. The members are: Donna Shaw, Bev Lafferrandre-Chess, Joanne Klumpp, Andy Feldt, and Phil Carlson.
Council Bio's
Continued
Mary Martin
I was born and raised in Terre Haute, Indiana, grew up in the Catholic faith and attended parochial school. I attended Indiana State University and graduated from St. Anthony Hospital School of Nursing in Terre Haute. I moved to Norman in 1974, and attended the Methodist church with my now three grown children. Kathleen, who lives in Albuquerque. Lori lives in Verdigris,Ok. and Michael who lives in Austin. I have four Grandchildren. I retired in July,2006 from Norman Regional Hospital, having worked there as a Registered Nurse for 32 years.
I began attending ULC in 2000 and became a member in February,2002. I was involved in caring for the lawn and garden areas of the church and for a while was chairman of the Landscaping Committee. I serve as a reader at the early service. I have participated in Crop Walk, and provided meals for Taize Tuesday. On Sunday mornings you will find me helping prepare and serve Build-Your-Own-Breakfast. I am currently Chairman of Fellowship Committee. This year our committee made available the first ULC Fellowship Cookbook which we plan to expand on in future years. In November of this year Bob Lee, who also is a member of ULC, and I are going to be married. I would consider it a privilege to serve on the Council.
NOVEMBER BIRTHDAYS
2 - Joey Jorgenson - Brookings, SD
Linda Crawford - Norfolk, VA
Genia VanLeirsburg
3 - Steve Johnson
4 - Ryan Abraham - Houston, TX
Dorothy Iverson - Spring Grove, MN
5 - Rebecca Girlinghouse- Brookfield, WI
Susan Theresa Mechem, OKC
9 - Michelle Black - Gilbert, SC
Saylor Hahn Hanttula - Norman
10 - Deborah Bain - Chicago, IL
Mia Lobban
12 - Carol Hoadley - Chicago, IL
Ingrid Robbins - Stuttgart, Germany
Richard Swenson
13 - Donna Droescher - McAlester, OK
14 - Sharlene Kleine
15 - Rodney Hansen - Sioux Falls, SD
Marti Hunnnicutt - OKC
16 - Samuel Boeck - Norman, OK
20 - Terry Rizzuti
21 - Bryce Ford Wallace
22 - Marian Klumpp - Towanda, NY
23 - Rebekah Swanson - OKC
24 - Bob Metz - Tulsa, OK
26 - Hyun Jae Lee
29 - Eilene Kleine - Irvington, IL
30 - Barbara Starling - Delavan, WI
November Anniversaries
17 - Ken and Edda Miner, Warwick, Rhode Island
20 - Chris and Kirsten Lee, Minneapolis, MN
Prayer List - October 28, 2007
Please keep the following in your prayers:
For those who are sick and recovering and their caregivers: Herb Kuhlman, Paul Brinker, Dorothy Thompson, Dave Alvis, Kirstin Schwandt, Tamara Swenson, Mary Sue Schnell, and Janet Hansen. James West, Aneice Rodrigues, Orville Thomas, Taiyoko Payton, Ari Williams, David Balan, Anna White, Dora Cox, Valerie Foley, Ella Ann Olson, Michelle Black, Joe Vivaldi, Elsie Eaton, Lony Birkert, Fran Rensberger, Gloria Longcrier, Bob Rogers, Virginia Bain, Cindy Rose, and Verla Winegardner.
For those serving in the Military: William D. Petre, Justin Smalley, John Huston, Matthew Haddon, Welby Richardson, Billy Loving, Jeff Jorgenson, Joshua Bell, Trevor Downen, Jason Kahne, and John Stroud.
For those serving as missionaries of the Church: David and Alicia Brondos, in Mexico. Sally and Tom Roach, and Herb Hafermann, in Tanzania.
For those who grieve the death of a loved one….. the family of Frances East, and Evelyn Armbrust.
October 18, 2007
Statistics –
September 2007
Worship Attendance
|
Sunday |
9/2/06 |
9/9/06 |
9/16/06 |
9/23/06 |
9/30/07 |
Average |
|
8:30 |
83 |
76 |
70 |
60 |
71 |
72 |
|
11:00 |
73 |
96 |
117 |
88 |
81 |
91 |
|
2007 |
156 |
172 |
187 |
148 |
152 |
163 |