CROSS OF CHRIST LUTHERAN CHURCH

24155 Griswold Road, South Lyon, MI 48178

248-437-8810

Fax: 248-437-7708

www.crossofchristlutheran.org Email: cross-christ@att.net

Like us on FACEBOOK at: www.facebook.com/crossofchristsouthlyon

D E C E M B E R, 2 0 2 0

Sunday Worship: 10 a.m.

Holy Communion is celebrated on the 2nd, 4th, and 5th Sundays of the month.

Sunday School: 10 a.m. – 3 years old through fifth grade

Adult Bible Study: Sundays 9:00 a.m.

Youth Bible Study: temporarily online

Mid-Week Advent Worship: Candlelight Christmas Eve

Wednesdays, Worship Service

Dec. 2, 9, & 16 5:00 p.m.

12:30 p.m. With Holy Communion

Dear Beloved Members and Friends,

Blessed Advent! Merry Christmas!

We celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus of the virgin Mary. Since Christ was expected to be born in King David’s royal city of Bethlehem, a pregnant girl in Nazareth could not seem right. We would expect the one called Lord by King David to be born in a palace, not in a stable. Jesus should have been wrapped in the finest of fabrics, such as silk or cotton, rather than swaddling clothes. Perhaps the most shocking part of the angel’s birth announcement to the shepherds was the fact that they would find the Savior, Christ the Lord, lying in an animals’ food trough. “But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger” (Luke 2: 10-12). It was all amazing, right down to a young betrothed girl giving birth to the Messiah.

Continued . . . . .

PASTOR’S LETTER Continued

Mary understood that God does not operate the way the world does. From the time that the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary, she learned how differently God would be at work. While Mary wondered how she, a virgin, could bear the Son of the Most High, her response was “I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to Your Word” (Luke 1: 38). Nothing is impossible with God.

Friends, on account of our sin, we too are the humble, hungry and lowly. By our own reason and strength we were spiritually impoverished without any possible hope to reverse our fortunes. We could not save ourselves from our sin. Since we could not restore things on our own, we needed Someone to come and save us. That was God’s plan from the beginning.

Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. According to Jesus’ human nature, He ate, drank, wept, slept, felt emotions and physical pain—like all other human beings.

Jesus had to be conceived by the Holy Spirit to be of the same substance with the Father to be truly God, holy and sinless in every way. Christ was conceived by the Spirit and born of the virgin Mary for you. Jesus had to be flesh and blood, truly human in fulfillment of the promise, that “the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son” (Isaiah 7:14). Christ was born covered in blood, and He would die on the cross covered in blood for you. For the way that Jesus would save His people from our sins was by shedding His blood on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins. In Christ “we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace” (Eph. 1:7). Jesus came to redeem us, to set us free from sin, by paying a price. We received the full rights of sons when we were baptized. It is in Jesus’ death that we live. How amazing!

Christ exchanged His holiness for our sin and His death for our life. Death could not hold Jesus. In the resurrection on the Last Day, we will see with our own eyes our Redeemer Who lives.

What it means for you is that God still does not work the way the world does. God still turns the world upside down and does not operate the way the world expects. The Almighty God became a tiny baby, knit together in Mary’s womb. The King of Kings and Lord of lords was born to an unknown small town girl with a questionable lineage. Jesus still comes to us today through His Word, attached to the ordinary elements of water, bread and wine. Jesus has given us the free gift of eternal life in heaven. We, the lowly, are exalted by God humbling His Son.

God turns the ways of the world upside down by sending His Son to be born of a virgin and to exchange His life for ours. God sent His Son into the world to be born of Mary to save you and the world. Rejoice these Advent and Christmas seasons. Jesus the son of Mary and Son of God is born!

Sincerely Yours in Christ,

Pastor Terry Nelson

C H R I S T I A N E D U C A T I O N

“Train up a child in the way he should go

and when he is old he will not depart from it.”

Proverbs 22:6

SUNDAY SCHOOL classes are held at 10 a.m. for children three years old through fifth grade. Children are dismissed to their classes from the worship service after the opening hymn.

SUNDAY SCHOOL/ Christmas Program Practice is being held during the normal Sunday School class time.

Children’s Christmas Program

Presented by the Sunday School Children

Sunday, December 20th – 10 a.m.

YOUTH BIBLE STUDY: Class will continue with online study at this time. Contact Dom at eldridge.dominick@gmail.com or 586-864-8623 for more information or to get added to the email list.

ADULT BIBLE STUDY– Sundays at 9 a.m.

ADULT BIBLE STUDY has just begun a DVD study about “Joseph” for the Advent/Christmas season. All are welcome to join in at any time.

CONFIRMATION instruction, for young people in 7th and 8th grades, is held Thursdays, at 3:30 p.m. If you are interested in having your child join the class, call or email Pastor Nelson.

CROSS OF CHRIST CHRISTIAN PRESCHOOL

The preschool children and staff are looking forward to all of the special days in celebration of our Lord and Savior’s birth. Preschool classes will be off for Christmas Break December 18 – January 1. We offer a play-based program for three and four year olds, with age appropriate academics.

CONGREGATIONAL

MEETING

A Quarterly CONGREGATIONAL meeting will be held on Sunday, December 6th after worship to consider approval of the 2021 Budget. All members are encouraged to attend.

WITH SPECIAL THANKS

. . . to Chuck Deeds for his service as Financial Secretary of the congregation for the past nine years. We thank him for his faithfulness and the extra tasks implemented during the past covid months.

HELP NEEDED

USHERS NEEDED

We are in need of additional Ushers. Ushers serve on a team of two or three, once every three or four weeks. See Pastor Nelson if you can help out.

ALTAR GUILD HELP

Help is also needed on our Altar Guild. Teams of two serve every three or four months for a month. See Pastor Nelson if you can help out.

FINANCIAL SECRETARY

If you are interested in learning about the Financial Secretary position, please contact Chuck, Jim, or Pastor.

P R E P A R I N G F O R C H R I S T M A S

CHURCH DECORATING

Thank you to all who helped decorate for Christmas! The sanctuary looks beautiful.

POINSETTIAS

Sign up on the Information Board to place Poinsettias on the altar for Christmas

(or contact the church office.)

Sign up to purchase POINSETTIA plants for the church sanctuary for Christmas week. The beautiful three-stem plants are available for $16.50 each and may be taken home after the Christmas Eve worship service. Cash or checks made payable to “Cross of Christ” may be placed in the offering plate, designated “Poinsettias.” Only seven plants have been ordered.

AMAZON.COM FUNDRAISER

As Christmas approaches, we wanted to remind you that we have an Amazon Smile Link setup, so that a portion of your Amazon shopping can benefit Cross of Christ Preschool.  Every little bit helps, so if you haven’t tried this yet, it’s very easy.  Just use this link to get to Amazon, and then anytime afterwards, go to smile.amazon.com.  (You only have to register one time.) Thank you and have a blessed Christmas Season!

smile.amazon.com/ch/23-7302355

STEWARDSHIP CORNER

Joy to the World

One of the more popular songs during the Christmas season is “Joy to the World, the Lord is Come!” God showed His amazing and incomprehensible love by sending His only Son to earth to live among us for 30 plus years. The Lord has come, filling us with great joy. Yet we confess that we often are mired in discouragement and grief. While looking at our present circumstances, we forget that Jesus has gone before us and that He is with us to take us through all the difficult times in our lives. He is still with us today to bring us abundant joy. May God keep our hearts in the joy of Jesus and to share that joy with those we meet.

Rise and Shine

The night of Jesus’ birth, the sky was filled with light as the angels brought the message of good news to the shepherds. The bright star in the East continued to shine to guide the Wise Men to the Christ Child that they might worship Him.

Jesus, the Light of the World, continues to draw us to Himself, and, as we reflect the light of Christ in our lives, others will see that light and be drawn to Him.

John the Baptist, sent from God, witnessed to the light of Christ. As individual Christians, we have a responsibility to do what John did, to testify to “the true light that gives light to every man” (John 1:9). Each of us has been individually gifted and equipped to work together within the whole body of Christ that we might testify to Christ, “the light [Who] shines in the darkness” (John 1:5).

As you reflect during this Advent season on all that Jesus has done for you, pray that the same grace and love that moved John the Baptist to tell others about Jesus move your heart to share the Good News with others.

GOD GAVE US THE BEST GIFT POSSIBLE WHEN HE GAVE US HIS SON. HIS GIFT ENABLES

OUR GIVING.

“For to us a Child is born, to us a Son is given; and the government shall be upon upon His shoulder, and His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6).

DECEMBER

BIRTHDAYS

1Jessica Wood

2Michael Bugar

Joshua Petsch

3James Morrison Jr.

4Robert Martin

5Rose Eldridge

Deirdre Gerke

7JoAnn Nims

8Abigail Hackbardt

9William Pratt

10Austin Lanam

Kenneth Miller

13Joann Stolz

16Arlene Krause

19Jillian Hudson

21Matthew Nelson

28Patricia Hicks

Matthew Wood

31Jordyn Nelson

DECEMBER

ANNIVERSARIES

5Steven & Stephanie Petsch

Let the church office know of any dates

missing or incorrect

_______________________________

MEMORIALS & HONORARIUMS

MEMORIAL:

+ + In memory of her parents, Donald & Leona Hart, a gift has been given to the General Fund by Nancy L. Drayton.

________________________________

2021 CALENDARS

WE THANK Phillips Funeral Home of South Lyon for the beautiful 2021 Scenic calendars. Calendars are available on the Gathering Hall table to take home.

EMAIL ADDRESSES

If you’d like to be added to our email list, contact cross-christ@att.net. To check out upcoming events, go to our web site at www.crossofchristlutheran.org. The monthly calendar and newsletter are available each month online.

________________________________

ALTAR FLOWERS

Look for the 2021 FLOWER CHART to be posted in December (in the hallway near the kitchen). Flowers may be purchased for $30 per vase, in celebration of special events or in memory of loved ones, and taken home after the worship services. Checks are made out to “Cross of Christ” – designated “Altar Flowers” and placed in the offering plate.

________________________________

THRIVENT CHOICE DOLLARS:

Thank you for choosing Cross of Christ Lutheran Church or Preschool as your designation for choice dollars! If you have Thrivent products and would like to designate dollars, go to:

Thrivent.com/thriventchoice

Learn more about Thrivent products by calling our congregation’s representative,

Eric A VanHevel, FIC;

eric.vanhevel@thrivent.com;

734-385-7435

In 2019 Cross of Christ received $2,309 Thrivent Choice Dollars® grants or through Thrivent Action Teams. 

________________________________

· D E C E M B E R 2 0 2 0 CROSS OF CHRIST LUTHERAN CHURCHEmail: cross-christ@att.net Office: 248-437-8810 Fax: 248-437-7708 Web: www.crossofchristlutheran.org www.facebook.com/crossofchristsouthlyon _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

+ Indicates Holy

Communion

1

2

12:30pm Advent

WORSHIP

3

3:30pm - Confirmation

4

5

6

9:00 am Adult Bible Class

10:00am WORSHIP

10:00am Sunday School/

Program Rehearsal

11:00am Congregation

Meeting

7

8

9

12:30pm Advent

WORSHIP

10

3:30pm - Confirmation

11

Bach/Loomis

Rehearsal

12

5:30pm

Bach/Loomis

Wedding

13

9:00 am Adult Bible Class

10:00am WORSHIP +

10:00am Sunday School/

Program Rehearsal

14

15

16

12:30pm Advent

WORSHIP

17

3:30pm - Confirmation

18

Preschool

Christmas Break

Begins

19

20

10:00am WORSHIP

Children’s Christmas

Program

No Sunday School or

Adult Bible Study

21

22

23

24

Christmas Eve

5:00pm

Candlelight WORSHIP

25

Christmas Day

26

27

10:00am WORSHIP +

No Sunday School or

Adult Bible Study

28

29

30

31

New Years Eve

“For to us a Child is born, to

us a Son is given, and the

government will be on His

shoulders. And He will be called

Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace”

(Isaiah 9:6).