This Sunday is the First Sunday of Advent! Advent is a season of preparation for the coming of Jesus. It’s a double meaning, too. We think of Jesus coming in the flesh, born on Christmas. But we are also mindful that He will come in again in all His glory on the clouds of heaven! When He arrived as a Baby, it was to grow up to carry our sins, suffer and die, and rise again. He came for our salvation! When He comes again in glory, it is to save us once and for all. Our sins have been paid for and forgiven. All that remains is for Jesus to raise us to everlasting life. All of this is on our minds as we wait and watch for His coming. We practice that by coming to church in Advent and hearing of our Lord’s arrival in the manger, in His gifts of water, Word, body and blood, and on the clouds of heaven on the Last Day. Sure, there’s lots of “holiday prep” going on in our homes and all around us. Yet Advent gives us a wonderful time to slow down and reflect on what is most important: not the trappings of the holidays that are so quickly torn down and thrown away. Instead, the coming of the Savior in Bethlehem, now in His church, and some day in glory and majesty. And each and every showing-up of Jesus that we celebrate, we celebrate because it’s for our salvation and eternal joy and gladness!

DECORATING FOR ADVENT AND CHRISTMAS THIS SUNDAY
We will be decorating the Sanctuary for Advent and Christmas this Sunday after worship (no Learning the Faith). Please take some time to help us. There are jobs big and small and helpers of all ages and abilities are welcome to join us! We’ll order some pizzas for lunch as a treat for your hard work!

LIVE NATIVITY

Our Live Nativity is SATURDAY, DECEMBER 11, 5 -7pm 

We need VOLUNTEERS for each of the four 30 minute slots to be cast members for the Nativity.

We also need some food items to compliment our chili that will be provided.

SIGN-UP on the posters on the glass doors in the Narthex.

ADVENT AND CHRISTMAS WORSHIP SCHEDULE

Here are worship times for Advent and Christmas Services
Wednesdays, December 1, 8, and 15 – 7pm Advent Midweek Services
Wednesdays, December 22 and 29 – NO SERVICES
Christmas Eve, Friday, December 24 – 3, 7, and 11pm Divine Services
Christmas Day, Saturday, December 25 – 9am Divine Service
Sunday, December 26 – 8am Bible Study; 9am Divine Service; No Learning the Faith
Friday, December 31 – 7pm New Year’s Eve Divine Service

ENCOURAGEMENT FOR PETER POLLACK
Peter continues his post-Covid battle and may now need a lung transplant. You can continue to send your cards and letters of encouragement to him and Robin here:
Lutheran General Hospital MICU
Attn: Peter Pollack, Room 12
1775 Dempster Street
Park Ridge, IL 60068

MASKS IN WORSHIP
We are currently wearing our masks during worship. At this time there is no restriction on capacity or seating arrangements. Please consider the well-being of your neighbor most especially by staying home if you have any symptoms of illness. As always, you can get in touch with me to request a visit if you can’t be in church. Thank you for your patience and understanding and love of neighbor in all of this!

LIVE STREAM INFORMATION
You can watch live and find recorded services at the links below:
We stream live on our FACEBOOK PAGE HERE.
Our videos are also live and recorded on YOUTUBE HERE.
The simplest way to watch online (not live) is probably through our church’s website HERE.

Hosanna! It means, “Come and save us!” That’s what we sing when our Lord arrives. They sang it on Palm Sunday and we sing it in the liturgy. It may seem strange to start Advent with Jesus arriving to Jerusalem on a donkey but it’s a reminder of what the Christmas season kicks off: the celebration of Jesus’ life for us and His work of salvation for us! See you in the Divine Service where we’ll sing “Hosannas” to our coming King once again!

In Christ,
Pastor Buetow

THANK YOU TO ALL WHO HELPED WITH OPERATION CHRISTMAS CHILD (116 BOXES)!