Call issued
Pastor Ben Kuerth has received the call to serve as Pastor for Outreach at St. Andrew. He currently serves at Divine Savior Church in Doral, Florida, just outside of Miami. He and his family will now prayerfully consider both the St. Andrew ministry and the Divine Savior ministry. Within a few weeks, Pastor Kuerth will decide whether to continue in his present ministry or come join us at St. Andrew. Please pray for the Kuerth family throughout this process.Koiné Christmas concert
Join us this Saturday, December 6, at 4 PM for a Christmas concert presented by the band Koiné featuring our very own music intern, Atticus Lawrenz, on drums. “Emmanuel Lux” is a concert experience using music and media to tell the miracle of Jesus’ birth. Bring a friend to the concert and stick around afterward for food and fellowship.

Advent by Candlelight
“One Red Ribbon: The Salvation Story,” an evening for women, will be held Sunday, December 7, 6 – 8 PM, at St. Andrew. Included will be appetizers, interactive Bible study, worship songs, and dessert! Sign up online. Grab an invitation in the atrium to share with others. Women and girls 14 and up are welcome. Contact Jane Dew with your questions.

Construction update
Masonry work continues on the exterior of the building. The brick work on the upper west side of the building is complete, and they have begun the north side of the building. Inside the new building, the last concrete slab was poured on Tuesday and interior steel studs are beginning. The atrium wall was delayed but will go up in the near future so they can begin connecting the two buildings.A Place of Peace giving
Giving can be set up like other offerings. Go to “Give” at the website, and you can set up a one-time or recurring gift. Choose “A Place of Peace” as the “Fund.” If using a check, please put “A Place of Peace” in the memo line. If using St. Andrew offering envelopes, use the designation “Ministry Expansion.”

Even if you didn’t make a formal pledge, you can still give. Every bit helps, as St. Andrew will still carry some debt, and the less debt, the more ministry.

Christmas worship schedule

• Friday, December 19 | Westside Christian School Christmas programs in the gymnasium
  • Preschool and kindergarten program—10 AM
  • Grades 1 – 8 program—2 & 6 PM

• Wednesday, December 24 | Christmas Eve worship at 1, 3, 5 PM (livestreamed at 5 PM)
• Thursday, December 25 | Christmas Day Lessons & Carols at 9 AM (livestreamed)
• No Thursday evening worship on December 25
• Sunday, December 28 | normal worship at 8 & 10:30 AM
• Sunday, January 4 | Epiphany worship at 8 & 10:30 AM (no Thursday worship on January 1)

Poinsettia order
One way to get the sanctuary ready for the Christmas season would be through your donation of a Christmas poinsettia. The cost is $17 and can be picked up following Christmas Day worship. Orders can be made here and are due December 14.

‘Tis the season
A big thank you to the Onsager family and Ron Kerr for helping to get all the Christmas decorations out of storage and over to our building, the Hougaard family and Christine Beyersdorf for putting up and decorating the two sanctuary trees, and to Sue Martalock and Rachel Martalock for leading the charge. We are grateful for the giving of their time to beautify our worship space for Christmas.

Worship check-in
If you worship on-site, please fill out the Connection Card attached to your worship folder. Online worshipers, please continue to check in here.

Weekend worship songs
Preview some of the songs we will use for worship this weekend. Obviously ours won’t sound exactly like this, but listening to the links provided will certainly help you be more comfortable participating in the service.

“Lord, Remind Me” by Jon and Valerie Guerra (this song is the basis for our Advent and Christmas series)
“Emmanuel (Hallowed Manger Ground)” by Chris Tomlin
“O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” arr. by Paul Mills
“Manger Throne” by Phil Wickham

Advent devotions | Words for Christmas
Advent devotions get us ready to celebrate the birth of Christ. Please watch this short Advent video devotion on the word PEACE.Grow in Grace
Mr. Aaron Wakeman returns on Sunday, December 14, with Mission Possible, part 2. When he was here in May he talked about the importance of openness and humility in personal evangelism. This time Mr. Wakeman will share practical and effective ways to talk with others about your faith in Jesus. We will have a follow-up on December 21. Grow in Grace is at 9:30 AM in the sanctuary.

Forward in Christ
There are new issues in the atrium of Forward in Christ and Meditations. Please help yourself. In this month’s Forward in Christ—

• An article on the classic hymn “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel”
• Tips on how to turn a conversation toward Jesus
• How Lutherans view Mary

20s and 30s
St. Andrew is committed to building community for our young adults. Check out coming events here. You can also check out the Sunday morning Growth Group in room 105.Impact
God has a perfect memory, and yet, through Jeremiah he declares, “I will remember their sins no more.” We can explain this mystery with one word: grace. Pastor Greg Lyon is here to take us through those words and more from Hebrews 8. You can listen to Impact here or by searching for “Kjenstad Impact” wherever you listen to podcasts.

No LifeBoat on Sunday
LifeBoat is docking the boat until their Christmas party on December 21.

Christmas gift assistance
We celebrate the gift of Jesus’ birth every Christmas. A fitting longtime tradition is giving gifts to others, both responding to and magnifying God’s perfect gift of salvation to us. If your temporary or ongoing circumstances make Christmas gifts a significant financial burden for your family, let the St. Andrew family help by completing this assistance request form.Clothing drive
Last month St. Andrew collected clothing and supplies for individuals being released from jail in winter. Those items were collected earlier this week and will begin to be distributed. Here’s what you donated, St. Andrew.

Service opportunity for friendly people
We are creating two new teams of people to connect with our guests in worship. If you like meeting new people, conversing in person, or even connecting via email or text, this is a great opportunity for you. Contact Pastor Clinton to get involved.Monthly Mission Partner
Our December partner’s mission is to build eternal friendships. Friends Network recruits, trains, sends, and supports lay missionaries around the world. The organization started in 2000, primarily focusing on China. It has now sent hundreds of evangelists to over a dozen different locations. Executive Director Aaron Wakeman presented Mission: Possible at St. Andrew in May. Two more installments are coming December 14 and 21 at 9:30, and Mr. Wakeman will be on site on December 14. Learn more about the ministry at friendsnet.org.