“Living Together in Christ!”

November 2014
Newsletter
“Living Together in Christ!”
“But this I call to mind, and therefore I
have hope: The steadfast love of the
Lord never ceases, his mercies never
come to an end; they are new every
morning; great is your faithfulness.
“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul
“therefore I will hope in him.””
(Lamentations 3:21-24)
On Wednesday, October 31st,
1517, Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses
for debate to the chapel door in
Wittenberg which set the Reformation in
motion. He had a new understanding of
the Gospel, and sought to renew the
church with this knowledge. Instead,
the church excommunicated him, kicked
him out and, in so doing, set him free to
bring the Gospel to the German people
in many new ways: through sermons,
tracts, a German New Testament, the
Large and Small Catechism and a new
order and elements of worship.
Luther’s new Gospel–filled
sermons were published thanks to the
Guttenberg press, and they were very
different from the annually recited
sermons that were the norm in his day.
He also wrote tracts addressing various
issues of the faith, always focusing on
justification by GRACE ALONE, through
FAITH ALONE, in CHRIST ALONE.
Luther wrote new hymns and new
liturgies so the people could participate
in the worship of their God. It was very
important to Luther that the people
connected with God in their worship.
On October 26, 2014, we
confirmed our 10th-Graders in the
Lutheran faith. They will now start a
new journey, one of working out their
own salvation with fear and trembling,
as Paul wrote, having learned the basic
tenets of Lutheranism. They will learn
to connect with God in ways that work
for them. In May we will confirm our 9thGraders as well as we work on trying
some new things in our parish. Having
two services at First Lutheran has been
a big success, as well as restarting
Sunday school at Banks and Garden.
We serve a God who is always doing
new things and it is exciting to see God
working in new ways in our
congregations.
As we approach the 500-yearmark of the Reformation, we just
celebrated the centennial of Watford
City, where new buildings are popping
up almost overnight and the population
has grown exponentially in the last five
years. And we are about to celebrate
the centennial of First Lutheran Church
in Watford. In conjunction with the
centennial, we have a new directory
coming out this year of the members in
our parish, and we should thank the
directory committee for all their hard
work in putting it together. We have the
new addition to the church in Watford
which will be completed in the new
year, and that will surely lead to more,
new opportunities for our parish.
Sometimes it is hard to adjust
to new things. We want to return to the
“good old days.” And the older we get,
the more we forget that those days
weren’t so good. The truth is, new
things are constantly present with us,
even WE were new to the area at some
point, and we got used to that. As we
face new challenges ahead, it I helpful
to remember, as the scripture says,
God is faithful, loving, merciful, and is,
Himself, everything we need to face all
the changes and challenges ahead. As
we head into a new Advent season, let
us look to Christ, God’s gift to the world,
and may we continue to express the
hope that is in us to all the newcomers
around us. Amen.
Together in Christ,
Pastor Mark
Thank You !
SPONSORS
Thank you to the following for
sponsoring the Sunday morning
broadcast of FLC worship for the month
of October: in memory of Owen and
Orrin Hovland by their families; In honor
of Olga Hovet’s 95th Birthday by her
family; in memory of WR & Marie
Henderson, by their grandchildren:
Craig, Terrill & Elisabeth & their
families; Owen & Laurie Hamre in honor
of their grandchildren: Addison, Serena,
Cade Gefroh and Reese Hamre.
Please check your special dates and
call the office (444-3244) to sponsor a
Sunday in this new year.
The cost is $100.00 per broadcast.
Kids Stewardship Challenge
Greetings,
I wanted to let everyone know about the
service event that we held for children
on the 16th of last month. We had 21
kids throughout the morning and
together we made 9 fleece tied
blankets. The kids had a great time
helping out others with their time off. 8
of those blankets were given to
Lutheran World Relief, and the other
was given to the Family Crisis Shelter.
I would like to thank Laurie Hamre,
Celeste Berg, Pastor Mark and Lorrie
Honstein, for all of their help. We will
certainly have more projects like this in
the future, where we can provide
activities for children of working parents,
while helping God's creation at the
same time.
Look for a December event coming
soon.
Garrett
November 2014
Grace, peace and
greetings to all of you!
Newsletter
Paul wrote this, “If we live, we live to the
Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord.
So, whether we live or die, we belong to
the Lord.” (Romans 14:8). To the
Philippians Paul wrote this, “It is God
who is at work in you, enabling you both
to will and to work for his good
pleasure.” Paul correctly says that we
are to engage in all aspects of our lives,
dedicating everything to the glory of
God. When we know and feel the
presence of God in everything that we
do, say, or think, many things in our life
start to fall into place. It does not mean
that our troubles or worries will cease.
It means that we learn to handle what
comes at us better than if we had no
God in our lives at all. We learn to
prioritize the things of life that are most
important, and to plan accordingly in
order to face what gets thrown at us on
a daily basis. Aside what we already
know about the life of Jesus, let us be
reminded of the wholistic life that he led,
which was one of joy, persistence, hard
work, discipline, harmony, and taking
care of his health. Allow prayer to be a
constant in your life, so that God’s entry
into your soul to be freely allowed, and
to use that spiritual balance to achieve
balance in the world outside in which all
of us have to live.
The prophet wrote, ”What gain have the
workers from their toil? I have seen the
business that God has given to
everyone to be busy with. He has made
everything suitable for its time;
moreover He has put a sense of past
and future into their minds, yet they
cannot find out what God has done from
the beginning to the end.” These words
from Ecclesiastes speak to us today,
especially in a time and place in which
change has not only become inevitable,
but has invaded our lives here in this
part of the state, whether we like it or
not. It just is! It’s here! Change can
easily overwhelm us, as it did for many
of us roughly five years ago. The
landscape is different and continues to
evolve as newer building projects
emerge, as it has regarding our own
church. The change is hard, but our
capacity to adapt to a new reality is
what we should all question in
ourselves. My term for that would be
“balance.” How to we achieve balance
or a steady sense of well-being amidst
the daily struggle of living among so
much change, not only of what we see
occurring, but experiencing those Yours in Christ, Pastor Rob
people who have come to our
community to make a living. For those
who have moved from other places,
their sense of balance has been
uprooted. They have come from faraway places, leaving loved ones
behind, or bringing them with them to
settle in less than adequate living
First Lutheran Church
quarters. Many of us could never
weekly offering for September
07:
$ 8,309.00
imagine how difficult that might be. But
14:
$ 3,996.00
the capacity of human beings to adapt
21:
$ 6,577.08
is one of the God-given gifts that we all
28:
$ 5,053.95
have built into us, but often never have
to make use of. I
Needed for the month: $23,550.00
In the midst of all of this, how do we live
out our lives as God’s own people,
nourished and strengthened by God’s
Word that dwells within us? The disciple
Women of the ELCA Circles
Wednesday, Nov 5
11:30 AM FLC WELCA General mt.@ library
Monday, Nov 10
5:00 PM Hope @ Horizon
Tuesday, Nov 11
9:30 AM Patience @ Library
2:30 PM Garden @ TBA
Wednesday, Nov. 12
1:30 PM Peace @ Horizon
Banks WELCA will not meet until April 2015
FLC WELCA
Recap of Rummage Sale and Lunch
The Committee would like to thanks all
of the man and women who helped with
the sale. We took in $2,225.44 at the
lunch and $4,402.23 from the sale….
And at 50 cents an item that is really
astounding!
If you have ideas for next year, call a
Women of the WLECA Board member
or better yet, come to a General
Meeting, it is held at 11:30 AM on the
first Wednesday of each month at the
library!
Healthcare Systems Family Fall
Festival to be held Sat. November 8th
from 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM at the
Veteran’s Memorial Building. If anyone
is interested in bringing a specialty or
holiday treat to sell, please price and
wrap the items individually to bring to
the Festival.
November 2014
Worship Assistants
November calling chair, Lynn Haugeberg
Newsletter
First Lutheran Church Council
Highlights of October
included in that worship service.
Confirmation will be on Sunday October 26
at the 11:00 AM service.
Prior to
confirmation Sunday, they will have a
banquet and pictures on October 22.
Staff:
If you would consider helping with coffee hour
*Other Business:
on November 9th or Ushering on November 30th Present: Don Stenberg, Kelly Olson, Anne
8:30 AM
Reader:
Greeters:
Ushers:
Comm:
Coffee Hr:
Barbara Curren
Tim & Terri Taylor
Gary & Linda Melland
Randy & Donna Slais
Cameron & Jan Dodge
8:30 AM
Reader:
Sue Jorgenson
Greeters:
Mary Lou Ault
Ushers:
Justin & Cari Forbes
Coffee Hr: ____________________
8:30 AM
Reader:
Greeters:
Ushers:
Comm:
Coffee Hr:
Ari Johnson
Gary & Michelle Foli
Bob & Deb Wisness
Kent & JoLynn Pelton
Jaret & Megan Wirtz
8:30 AM
Reader:
Greeters:
Ushers:
Coffee Hr:
Frances Olson
Karn & Kylee Pederson
Tim & Sue Jorgenson
Mitch & Lynn Haugeberg
8:30 AM
Reader:
Greeters:
Ushers:
Coffee Hr:
Marcia Hellandsaas
Orrin & Joyce Moe
______________________
LYO
In memory of……
To the Building Fund
Florence Slais
Vi Stenhejm
Orvel Thorp
Oscar JOhnsrud
$ 20.00
$ 30.00
$ 5.00
$ 75.00
Meeting was called to order by President
Don Stenberg.
Stef Russell gave
devotions. Glen Beard gave a report on the
building addition.
Minutes of the previous meeting were
approved.
Discussion about the
use of the Centennial Tent for a youth
dance or a concert during Homefest.
Garrett will contact the Homefest
Committee about this.
Motion was
approved to sign the charter for the Boy
Scouts, so they would have a meeting
place at the church. Discussion was held
on the church times. They will stay the
same . Suggestion about presenting
congregational member with a choice of an
automate withdrawal tithing/offering. This
option will go out in the letter to the church
members.
Cards and goodies were
presented to the pastors for “Pastor
Appreciation month”
Picture of the council was taken for the
church directory.
Committee Reports:
Next meeting: November 12 @ 7:30 PM
Beard, Mark Sparby, Kylee Pederson,
Marcia Hovet, Sahron Endrud, Ari Johnson
Stef Russell
Absent: Colette Anderson, Michon Sax
Others present: Pastor Rob Favorite,
Pastor Mark Honstein, Pastoral Assistant,
Garrett Gudmunsen
Guests Present: Glen Beard
*Finance report was approved.
*Property: Security System is in at the
parsonage.
Step by Step……
*Worship: Cotemporary Worship is well
……..check by check…
received. Discussion on the Sound System
in the Worship area. Ari & Garrett will …..donations to Building Fund
Streamline Water Services LLC,
access what is needed.
Gary & Linda Melland,
*Stewardship/Evangelism:
Sharon Ed & Charlotte Schilke, Glen Beard,
reported that 126 families have had their
Norman & Marlene Sondrol
pictures taken for the booklet. David &
Arnold Peterson
Celeste Berg photographed the GSH
residents to be included in the directory.
October is Stewardship Month, pastors will
send a letter to the congregation to remind
the parish to contribute to special projects
in the church. New Member Sunday is
November 23rd. This will follow with a
potluck dinner. Committee will be working
Congratulations~
on the Caring and Sharing callers for the The following young people were
months ahead.
confirmed on October 26th at
*Youth/Education: Garrett reported that FLC:
Sunday School is struggling. There are so Cassandra Bellon, Sean Larsen,
many members traveling on the weekends. Brady Leiseth, Jayden Leiseth
and MacKenzie Sparby
Families are attending the 11:00 AM
worship more so then when there was only
one service. A children’s message is