St. Andrew's Lutheran Church

Dear Savior, Thank you for coming one holy night so many years ago.  Thank you for meeting us in a manger in love and humbleness.  Thank you for reaching out your hand to fill us with mercy and forgiveness.  Thank you for sending us angels to announce your birth so that there would be no doubt as to your majesty and goodness.   Shine a light in our darkness.  Be born in our hearts today and everyday.  Come Lord Jesus. We hope to see many of you here, along with family and friends, at 5 PM this Saturday night for our Christmas Cantata.  Join us for a joy filled hour together featuring special music from our choirs, the Christmas story retold, and beloved Christmas carols sung together.  This is a great way to get into the spirit of the season and an opportunity for those of you who will be traveling or have other commitments on Christmas Eve to celebrate with your faith community.  Bring family members, friends, neighbors, or co-workers for this special night together.
And if …

Dear Friends,  
As we continue to get different predictions from different weather forecasters, we are planning on continuing with our regular worship schedule this weekend: Tonight - 5PM Sunday - 8:15 & 11 AM Christian Education - 9:30 AM
That having been said, we encourage you, depending upon road conditions, to exercise caution and common sense before venturing out.  While I, as your pastor, am planning to be there, I will also be prepared to make alternate plans for those assisting with worship leadership who are unable to attend.
As always, I look forward to being with many of you in worship this weekend.  My hope is that, regardless of what the weather outcome is, roads should be clear for 11 AM tomorrow.  Blessings in all of your Christmas preparations and enjoy the snow!
Peace,
Pastor 

Dear Friends,     Thank you so much for your incredible generosity in this season of giving.  So many individuals and families will be blessed in the weeks ahead because of the incredible ways that you have opened your hearts and hands with the creation of quilts, gingerbread houses, and home baked cookies as well as your donations of food, blankets, clothing, and Christmas gifts for families in need.  It is a great honor and deep privilege to serve among such incredible people. I am looking forward to worship this weekend as well as the many Christmas celebrations that await us in the days to come.  
Come join us for our Christmas Cantata on Saturday evening December 21 @ 5 PM as we hear the Christmas story, enjoy special music of the season from all of our choirs, and sing beloved Christmas carols.  This is a great way to prepare for the celebrations to come, take a break from the craziness of Christmas preparations, and gather with family and friends.  This has also been …

Dear Friends,
The season of Advent, at least as the church traditionally celebrates it, is a challenge for me.  There are the prayerful, watchful hymns of Advent while much of America has been listening to Christmas carols for almost a month already.  There are assigned readings in church that feel a little too far away from Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus.  And this Sunday, there's John the Baptist, whose message of repentance is not what I really need to hear as I am already painfully aware of how much there is to be done between now and Christmas and how I am getting a little tired and cranky already.  The last thing I need is a message that provokes feelings of guilt, of not doing enough, and not measuring up to God's commands or expectations.  Frankly, I don't want to be scolded by John the Baptist or anyone else for that matter.
Except that the word "repentance" does not suggest scolding, guilt, or shame but rather, at least from the original Greek, to turn arou…