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A Publication of Bethel Lutheran Church

A member congregation of The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

7171 Pearl Road, Middleburg Heights OH 44130-4946

(440) 843-6663

www.gobethel.org

Be heLight

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A Publication of Bethel Lutheran Church

In This Issue. . . Prayer Concerns………………………………………………………….………………………………………………………..….3 Bethel Happenings ……..…………………………………………………….………………………………………………….4-7 Birthdays & Anniversaries .…………………………………………….….………..………………………………………..8-9 Calendars…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….……10-11

Be heLight

Let your light shine

before others so they

may see your good

works and give glory to

your Father in heaven.

Matt 5:16 NRSV

Church Office 440-843-6663

Office Hours Mon – Fri 9am – 1pm

Steven M. Krebill, Pastor 440-785-9614

Erika Haskell, Director of Music 216-409-9037

Kathy Victor, Administrative Assistant 440-843-6663

Christie Scott, M.E.E.C. Director 440-243-6266

M.E.E.C. Office 440-888-9922

The Congregation, Reporters

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MISSION STATEMENT

The people of

Bethel Lutheran Church

are called by God to be

faithful to the word of God

and proclaim it to all people.

We share Christ’s love

and forgiveness

by being Christ’s hands,

feet, arms and voice

as we gather and

as we scatter.

FROM THE PASTOR- SPRING 2015

Deadline for the February 2017 BeTheLight is January 15th

The purpose of BeTheLight is to inform our members,

friends and visitors of worship services and to encourage

spiritual growth, Christian Education opportunities,

missions and outreach, activities, fellowship events and

volunteer opportunities. This newsletter is meant to be an

informational tool of Bethel Lutheran Church where we

serve together as a family in Christ.

The BeTheLight welcomes contributions and letters.

Copyrighted material (including prayers and inspirational

verses) cannot be published without written permission

from the author.

Ongoing Prayer Concerns

PERSONS IN NEED OF HEALING

Chuck Behm, Deborah Braun, Carl Burgess, Warren Burgess, Marshall Camp,

Jennifer English, Robert Hintze, Karen Horner, Aaron Jardina, Brigitte Kern,

Lynn Kostura, Joyce Larson, Irene Miller, Pamela Misischia, Eric

Nemerovsky, Kirk Nemerovsky, Donald O’Dell,

Mary Sollers, Janet Sopko, John Stefanik, Barbara Wilcenski, Eric Whitsel

Prayers for our homebound members Eleanor Olschewsky~Mary Reinke~Velma Wolff ~ Viola Dase

Julius Nemeth ~ Jan Harmon ~ Ann Nemeth

Please keep these friends in your

thoughts and prayers.

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DECEMBER SPECIAL WORSHIP SCHEDULE

Sundays in Advent- We will once again gradually decorate the church during Advent,

adding greens and the tree, and finishing decorating for Christmas after Advent 4 on December

18.

Sunday – December 11- Third Sunday in Advent

9:45 AM L.I.F.E. Together Christmas service

“From Heaven Above”

Holy Communion will be celebrated at this service.

Sunday – December 18- Fourth Sunday in Advent

9:45 AM Lessons and Carols for Christmas. This year we will be using the traditional

format from Kings College at Cambridge University in England. Holy

Communion will be celebrated at this service, and following worship we will finish

decorating the church for Christmas.

Saturday – December 24 – Christmas Eve

6:30 PM Christmas Eve Worship with carols, Holy Communion, and a special

sermon time with the children.

10:00 PM This service will also include candlelight, carols, and Holy Communion

with a “traditional” sermon.

Sunday – December 25- Christmas Day

9:45 AM Worship- Carol Setting of Holy Communion.

LIFE Together Classes are in recess until January 8.

Saturday -December 31- New Year's Eve

7:00 PM Service of the Word for Healing

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GIFTS UNDER THE “JESSE” TREE A Bethel Advent/Christmas Tradition now

in its 19th

Year

The Jesse Tree will be set up in the back of the church and decorated with tags. The tags will

identify the names of children in K through 2nd

grades at Watterson Lake Elementary.

- Each tag will have a child’s name, gender, grade, size, and favorite color.

- Everyone is encouraged to take a tag, purchase one clothing outfit (shirt, blouse, or

sweater and pants/skirt) and one toy or book, wrap the gift and place it under the tree

(with identifying tag attached.)

- Final day for placing gifts under the tree will be Sunday, December 18th.

If interested in helping on any of the following dates, please contact Sue Van Straaten at 440-

888-1868.

- Sunday, December 18 - sort gifts after worship

- Monday, December 19 – help deliver the gifts to the school and take pictures of the

children opening the gifts

If you go to the school on Monday, you will be caught up in the excitement. These gifts are the

only gifts some of these children will receive.

Please consider participating in this effort to reach out to school children in need as we

share our gifts from God with others.

Sue Van Straaten

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Christmas Eve Choir

Please join us! Additional voices are needed to sing with the choir at the 10pm service on

Christmas Eve. Rehearsals are scheduled on Wednesday, December 7, 14, and 21 from 7:30 to

8:15pm. We will warm-up at 9:15pm on Christmas Eve. Please let me know if you are

planning to participate – see me at church or email erikah15@yahoo.com. If you have been

considering joining the choir, this is a fantastic opportunity to see what it’s all about. Or, if

you’d just like to sing on Christmas Eve, that’s great too. All are welcome!

Poinsettias

Christmas is just around the corner, a time for thanks and celebration of Jesus’ birth.

Poinsettias are a small but beautiful expression of celebration and a means to decorate our

church.

We will again purchase poinsettias from Uncle John’s Plant Farm.

The order forms can be found in a small hanging envelope on the bulletin board in the

Gathering Place hallway. Your orders can be placed in the offering basket or given to any one

of the Altar Guild ladies. The last day to order is Sunday, December 11. We have been asked

to place our order as soon as possible this year. Please do not wait until the last minute to place

your order.

Thank you,

Shirley Daedelow

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God’s Faithful Follower’s

Bethel's Fellowship Hall was transformed into an Art Studio on September 17th. Paintings and

special crafts were displayed by members of God's Faithful Followers. Attendance and sales

exceeded expectations, bringing in more than twelve hundred dollars. Although paintings by

GFF artists were the main theme, two special crafts attracted special attention.

During the entire Art Festival, Mark Pamer demonstrated how he made large, thick, decorative,

and warm scarves by hand. Even on that eighty-degree day, Mark was selling scarves from his

inventory throughout the afternoon. His mile-wide smile, all afternoon, said it all: A great day

for the GFF friends to show their God-given talents.

Deanna Dilley enjoyed sharing her poems with Show attendees. Deanna writes a poetry book

for and about people with various disabilities. She has written many poems that span many

categories: fictional, spiritual, patriotic, and biographical. Some poems address her feelings or

those of her friends and co-workers who are disabled. Lyrics from her poem, the "Special

Olympics Oath,” were used by the Coca Cola Company for its commercial during the Summer

Special Olympics, in London, England. You can read more about Deanna and her poems at

Voices.net.

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December Birthdays and Anniversaries

2 Jennifer Cajka 2 Elizabeth Johnson 4 Judy Bailey 6 Grace Steffen (Happy 92nd birthday!) 7 Georgia Bobrosky 9 Max Ciccarello (Happy 18th birthday!) 11 Pam Barker 12 Rochelle Gold 14 Louis Pamer 16 Bob Minut 18 Marie Hvizdos 18 Merri Karp 18 Matthew Pickens 19 Bob and Carol Pickens (Happy 52nd) 20 Ryan English 21 Alan and Georgia Bobrosky (Happy 43rd) 23 Amber Strobel 26 Henry Ritzman (Happy 90th birthday!) 27 Laura Lee Costa 28 Elfi Schuster 30 Maggie Bartlett

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January Birthdays and Anniversaries

2 Charles Behm 3 Leah Leidy 6 Ava Salmen (Happy 1st birthday) 9 Alex Ciccarello 14 Viola Dase

14 Jennifer English 15 Bryan Ciccarello 17 Taylor Geraci 21 Edie Lannoch 23 Timothy English 27 Bob Thompson 31 Spencer Reardon

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December 2016

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1

Al-Anon

10am

GFF 7pm

2 AA 8:30pm

3 Men’s Bible

study 8am

4

Worship

9:45am

5 6 Lectionary Bible

study 10am

7

Choir 7:30pm

8

Al-Anon

10am

GFF 7pm

9 AA 8:30pm

10

Men’s Bible

study 8am

11 Worship

9:45am

12 13

Lectionary Bible

study 10am

14

Choir 7:30pm

15 Al-Anon

10am

GFF 7pm

16

AA 8:30pm

17 Men’s Bible

study 8am

18

Worship

9:45am

19 20

Lectionary Bible

study 10am

21

Choir 7:30pm

22

Al-Anon

10am

GFF 7pm

23

AA 8:30pm

24

Worship

6:30pm and

10pm

25

Worship

9:45am

26 27

Lectionary Bible

study 10am

28

Choir 7:30pm

29

Al-Anon

10am

GFF 7pm

30 AA 8:30pm

31 Worship 7pm

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January 2017

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1

Worship

9:45am

2 3

Lectionary Bible

study 10am

4 Choir 7:30pm

5

Al-Anon

10am

GFF 7pm

6 AA 8:30pm

7

Men’s Bible

study 8am

8

Worship

9:45am

9 10

Lectionary Bible

study 10am

11

Choir 7:30pm

12

Al-Anon

10am

GFF 7pm

13 AA 8:30pm

14

Men’s Bible

study 8am

15

Worship

9:45am

16 17

Lectionary Bible

study 10am

18

Choir 7:30pm

19 Al-Anon

10am

GFF 7pm

20

AA 8:30pm

21

Men’s Bible

study 8am

22

Worship

9:45am

23 24

Lectionary Bible

study 10am

25

Choir 7:30pm

26

Al-Anon

10am

GFF 7pm

27 AA 8:30pm

28

Men’s Bible

study 8am

29

Worship

9:45am

30 31

Lectionary Bible

10am