Peace Talk570-343-9828 www.yourpeace.orgPeace Lutheran Church

We Pray God's Blessing on the Purchase of the 61 Parker St. house!

An Apostol ic Mission Congregation of The Lutheran Church Missouri Synod

December 2013

Advent and Christmas Worship - Sharing the Wonder!Lord our God, we praise you for your Son, Jesus Christ.He is Emmanuel, the hope of all peoples;He is the wisdom that teaches and guides us;He is the Saviour of every nation.

Advent Midweek Services at 7pm on Wednesdays Dec. 11 and 18Sunday School's Christmas Pageant will be presented on Sunday, Dec. 15 at the 10:30 worship.Christmas Eve Candle Light Worship: 9pmChristmas Day Holy Communion: 10:30amNew Year's Eve Prayers and Holy Communion: 7pm

Unless the Lord builds the house,those who build it labor in vain. - Ps. 127:1

On November 17th the congregation met in a voter's meeting after worship and voted to proceed in an effort to purchase the house across the street from the Parsonage on Parker St. It has two one bedroom apartments and the plan is to provide those congregation in need with affordable housing. It is also hoped that it will be a good "investment" for the congregation - instead of letting the money we have just sit in a bank account. Perhaps there might be other uses for the building that God will show us.The council met and did some struggle quite a bit over whether we could make this deal work, but in the end, after mulitple investigations, the final negotiations are underway and it is hoped that the purchase can be closed on Dec. 12 for between $47,000 and $49,000! WOW! Please pray that God would continue to lead us in this endeavor!

How do you make Jesus the center of

your Christmas?

Festival of Lessons and Carols! On the evening of December 4th, the students of the Lutheran Academy presented its 7th Festival of Lessons and Carols at Immanuel Lutheran Church. It was a beautiful evening and the kids did so very well (as usual!) What did your area public school present that compares? :) There were about 100 people in attendance and $1,372 was given in offerings in support of The Academy's Student Scholarships. We THANK YOU for your part in the generosity needed to make the Academy a reality!

The Lutheran Academy loves to have your prayers and participation!

Coming up:The Lutheran Academy will be singing and

playing at

The MADD Candle Light Vigil6pm, Monday, December 9, 2013Lackawanna College, Scranton

(Vine St. Entrance)Nora Betts will be honored after the ceremony for her entry into the MADD Poster Contest!

YOU ARE ALSO INVITED TO OUR ACADEMY

CHRISTMAS TEA!1-3 pm

Tuesday, Dec. 17th It will take place here at The Academy!

The students will host all our friends and guests and shower them with Christmas cheer, poems, and more music as well!

Why is our ministry to young people important?Earlier in November on All Saints Sunday we remembered the life and death of John Rogan, Jr., age 16 and member of Peace Lutheran. We pray for his family (Carol, John, Sarah and Matthew) as they still (and will always) struggle daily with the devastation of his suicide three years ago. We must never let our guard down and assume everything is so well with our young people (or anyone!). Eariier this Fall the friends of John installed a beautiful bench at the park near his home that he spent many hours at. We, along with them, need to commit ourselves to the HOPE of JESUS CHRIST, and nurture that in our children from day ONE! Please know that Peace Lutheran Church is GOD'S TEAM here on earth! Be a part of it! Love it! Support it!

The Lutheran Academy andImmanuel Preschool/Kindergarten

We will pick up our Fellowship Hour in January!

100th ANNIVERSARY IDEAS:In 2017 Peace will be celebrating our 100th anniversary as a congregation! We really do need to start working on this observance. Soon we will obviously need to strike some sort of task group to begin the work, but maybe we can start dreaming and brainstorming even now...

+ What would be a good theme? Bible Verse?+ Write a poem or hymn+ Go on a cruise together+ Raise $100,000 for our endowment fund+ Start a new mission church+ Have 100 likes on our Facebook page (we are almost there already!)

Here is pastor Bjornstad's idea: have an AVERAGE of 100 people in church every Sunday for the year! (This would be VERY possible!)

Who is going to make the idea box to put in the back of the church?

WE GIVE THANKS TO THE LORD FOR:LUTHER DAY DINNER: On Nov. 10, we gave thanks to God for Martin Luther and Marcia Rudat at our 2013 Annual Luther Day Dinner at the Melting Pot, Scranton. Marcia received the William T. Schmidt award for outstanding Lutheran Lay Person for her service to her congregation St. Stephen's Lutheran Church, Dickson City, and the other love of her life: Organ Donation Awareness!

THANKSGIVING DINNER: Thanks to GREAT TEAMWORK by numerous folks, we had a LOVELY Thanksgiving Day meal with about 30 members of the church and community. We thank the Breadbasket Food Bank for much of the food, Bonnie Cornog for her organization of the event. Here we have a picture of

Monica Bjornstad playing a rousing round of great turkey games with the kids!

NEW CHURCH COUNCIL: At the Nov. 17th congregational voter's meeting we did elect a new church council! We pray for these beautiful children of God who love to serve Him: Chad Tyk,

President, Bonnie Cornog, Treasurer, Chuck Mercer, Ky Betts, Ray Stumff, Elders, Julie Paddock, Secretary; Jerry Cornog, Gary Paddock, and Daryl Smallcomb, Trustees, and Elsie Schweitzer was elected as a life long honorary trustee!!! They will be installed in January!

CONFIRMATION CLASS: We have a terrific class of Confirmands this year who have a LOT of fun every Monday night at church with Pastor Bjornstad. Please pray for them!!!!

WORSHIP AND SPIRITUAL LIFEat Peace Lutheran Church

PLEASE SAY IT ISN'T SO AT PEACE LUTHERAN CHURCH: "I wonder if there was ever a time when true spiritual worship was at a lower ebb. To great sections of the church, the art of worship has been lost entirely, and in its place has come that strange and foreign thing called the "program." This word has been borrowed from the stage and applied with sad wisdom to the public service which now passes for worship among us." - A.W. Tozer THIS ADVENT LET US WORSHIP IN SPIRIT AND IN TRUTH!

Our worship services are at 8:15 am and 10:30 am Sundays, with Sunday School and Bible Study at 9:30am! Invite your friends and neighbors to join us! Advent Midweek Services are Wednesdays at 7pm on Dec. 11 & 18!

YES! SUNDAY SCHOOL IS IMPORTANT! We have baptized children in our congregation who should/can be in Sunday School but are NOT! Make the invitation! Volunteer to teach! PRAY, PRAY, PRAY! Life is too short to sell God short!

NEWS AND NOTES:THE SUNDAY SCHOOL PAGEANT IS DEC. 15TH! Please note that the plan that we have is that immediately after presenting the Christmas Pageant to the congregation, the Sunday School Students will pile into the church van and present the same program to the residents of the Greenridge Nursing Home. Parents can pick them up there after worship! Hannah Bjornstad and the kids are working very hard to make this year's pageant fun and different! There will also be an important practice on Saturday at 10am (Dec. 14).

PLEASE PRAY:+ for our Congregational as we go forward with the purchase of the house across the street - that it would foster teamwork and blessing for our congregation and further the ministry of the Lord in our neighborhood.+ OUR "HIP SITUATION"... On Thanksgiving Eve our Audrey Russell fell and broke her hip. The doctors did not operate, and she is in Greenridge nursing home for rehabilitation. A few days later our Ray Stumff fell down getting off the bus and broke HIS hip. He did have surgery and is home now! Please pray for him as Shawn and Daryl take good care of him!+ For our Academy and the Immanuel Preschool - that all our children would be well equipped to lead a Godly life in service to our fellow man! We pray for our new student Gabriel!+ For our Shut In's Elwood and Edith Korban, Marilyn Wright and Trudy Makowski, Mark Herie.

CHRISTMAS PRAYER: Eternal God, this holy night is radiant with the brilliance of your one true light. May that light illuminate our hearts and shine in our words and deeds. May the hope, the peace, the joy, and the love represented by the birth in Bethlehem this night fill our lives and become part of all that we say and do. May we share the divine life of your son Jesus Christ, even as he humbled himself to share our humanity. Amen.

Rev. Richard J. Fairchild

JOIN OUR CHRISTMAS EVE BELL CHOIR! We are rehearsing Monday nights at 7pm with the Confirmands! We would love your help! And you don't have to read music!

Jesus is the Reason for the Season!This Christmas we are launching a Christmas Card drive for all those in our congregation who we haven't seen lately, or who are shut in or sick! Join in the fun! Love someone - even if they haven't loved you in any particular way!

Want to explore gift giving that gives twice? Please check out http://www.serrv.org - fair trade gifts from around the world!