Bethlehem Lutheran Church – Aloha, OR
Preschool Spring Plant Sale
March 1 – March 20
Plants will be delivered April 21st.
Our Spring Plant Sale is back! The preschool is taking orders for the Spring Plant sale for 3 weeks. You can find the order form by clicking the button below. You may also pick up a printed order form, available in the Fellowship Hall. Orders must be submitted to me no later than Sunday, March 20th. Payment is due at the time of ordering. You may pay by cash, check or credit card. Please make checks out to “BLP”, if you would like to pay using your credit card you may do so with Joel or Mary in the church office, or with me on Sunday. Plants are due to arrive Thursday, April 21st. Pick up only, no delivery.
He Meets Us
I actually learned this in El Paso. Organists do not simply practice. They worship. Each time they sit on that organ bench, it is a devotional time for them. In Saint Louis, the organist saw me coming—the way the balcony was built—and was ready for me; but in El Paso, I would come up behind Blanche and really startle her because she was deep into the hymn she was practicing. Nathan, in Aurora, was the same.
Nathan would get to church about an hour before everyone else. I would come into the narthex, from the church offices, and I would hear Nathan singing his heart out as he played the hymns and whatever other music shaped his devotional time each morning. Sometimes, I would just sit there on a bench and listen. I felt a bit like a little kid who is snuck into the room where a movie I am not supposed to see is playing.
Christmas Eve night is a special time for me. I like to wait until everyone has left the church building after the last worship service is over. I have done this in every congregation that I have served. This means that it is just around midnight and that it is just now Christmas Day. So, I am sitting in Bethlehem on Christmas morning!
I like to turn on the Christmas tree lights. I turn on the lights in the garland, that light up behind the little Bethlehem cityscape up there by the cross and light the candles. Then, I turn off the overhead lights—the chandeliers—and the lights in the hallways. I sit in the quiet of the sanctuary where I can see the “Bethlehem” stained glass window and let the joy of what God is doing and has done just fill my heart. I might even sing a hymn. You do not have to worry about tunes when you are singing just to God.
What do you do to worship at Christmastime?
How do you find/make time to spend in worship or devotion? It does not have to be in the quiet or in the dark. When I was in Colorado and had to drive to a pastors’ conference in the western part of the state, I would have to drive through the Eisenhower Tunnel—like the US 26 tunnel in the West Hills, but longer and deeper in the mountain. I love to turn my CD player up all the way and let the “Hallelujah Chorus” just fill the moment, there in depths of the earth.
As we close out the calendar year and begin the next, we are unsure of what 2022 will bring. One thing about which we can be sure is that our Lord will be with us in each moment. The Babe who laid wrapped in swaddling clothes in that manger wraps Himself up in our moments and meets us there—whether in the quiet or in a noisy room; in a devotional time or in a traffic jam. That is a reason to celebrate! So, celebrate the moments as they come, one by one.
Pastor Jeff Shearier
LWML Holiday Bazaar & Bake Sale
The Bazaar will be held in the Community Center on Saturday, Nov. 20 from 9-3 and Sunday morning after both services. Please invite your friends and neighbors to come and shop. There will be quilts, crafts, baked goods, and more for sale!
The monies from this event are used to fund mission projects, purchase items for our own church, give out gifts for special events, help support seminary students, and fund other projects that might come up. A list of what the monies from 2018 were used for will be posted on the LWML bulletin board.
We Are on the Move
“Growl, growl; we’re on the prowl.”
I thought I was pretty witty coming up with that cheer. My daughters were playing volleyball for what was then called Lutheran High of the Rockies in Parker, Colorado. They were the Lady Lions—ironic, that a Christian school would choose a lion as their mascot, no? My little cheer rhymed, and it embarrassed my children—a double “Dad” win—since they did not appreciate either my cheer or my cheering it.
I share this memory with you as I think about the Church. With our buildings and our organizations, it’s easy to think of ourselves sitting. Our buildings sit at addresses—they do not go anywhere. Our organization fills pages of bylaws, constitutions and best practices. These pages go into folders and sit in drawers in filing cabinets. They do not go anywhere, either. But the Church does not sit still.
That can be hard to remember. With COVID and the attendant restrictions, our movement has been limited. We moved worship services, Bible classes and, even, our Sunday School and preschool classes online. I remain amazed at how well and how quickly all of this happened—a shout-out especially to Kerry and Eric for figuring it out and teaching the rest of us! So, “being the Church” became “watching church.” A person could sit on their couch in their pajamas and not move.
You read the Bible and you see that God is always stepping into times that seem impossible and doing something new. Chaos—and He “genesissed.” (Yes, I made that word up.) Flood—and He “Noahed.” Egypt—and He “Exodused.” Something new, each time, as God started again with us. We were dead in sin and swallowed up in the grave of our self-interest and selfishness. Jesus died our death, climbed into our graves, and raised us with Himself to live a new life.
The New Testament is pretty clear that “living” is not sitting still or locating oneself only at an address. The New Testament uses the word, “walk” to describe what we do as followers of Jesus. (You remember that those First Century believers described themselves as following the Way.) We are on the move. We—as the Holy Spirit just will not let us stay the same—go, where Jesus sends us. Going, we have…
…joy in the journey,
Pastor Jeff Shearier
Outdoor Worship Service
This Sunday we will be having our 11am Morning Song worship service outside. We have found a lovely spot for our service that is surrounded by beautiful trees in our parking lot along 187th Ave. It has a good amount of shade and has our stained glass windows as a backdrop. The setting feels just perfect for this!
We will have metal folding chairs available, but feel free to bring something a little more comfortable, such as camping chairs. I’m excited bring our voices outside and worship our Savior together.
Our 8:30am worship service will not be changed. It will happen in the Sanctuary and have Holy Communion. This will be the only worship service that will be available online this week.
I hope that you can join us for one (or maybe both) of our worship services this Sunday! How good it is to come together as God’s children, praise His Holy name, and hear His Word!
Bethlehem Lutheran Church - Aloha, OR 