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Monthly Newsletter for December, 2024
Newsletter Highlights This Month
Please Note: Our newsletters are for members only with no public access through the GSLC web site. Please bookmark this page or keep the newsletter notice email to return to this newsletter.
Advent Christmas Sermon Series Schedule Sundays: Savior of the Nations Come Located on the front of the historic Jerome (c. 342–420) wrote of Isaiah, “He should be called an evangelist rather than a prophet because he describes all the mysteries of Christ and the Church so clearly that you think he is composing a history of what has already happened rather than prophesying about what is to come.” Likewise, when Augustine (345–430) asked Ambrose (c. 327–400) for his advice on what he should read, the latter suggested Isaiah, “Because, I believe, he is more plainly a foreteller of the Gospel and of the calling of the Gentiles than are the others.” Isaiah is one of the most theologically significant books in the Bible. Our series for Advent and Christmas employs a section in this book—Isaiah 40:1–11. For Advent grandeur, majesty, and supreme artistry, no section in Isaiah comes close to these verses. Their soaring language and unforgettable imagery are tightly woven into the fabric of the season’s hymnody, liturgy, and devotional literature. An inspiring time awaits us as we sing anew, “Savior of the Nations Come.” December 1 — “Comfort, Comfort Ye My People” (Isaiah 40:1–2) December 8 — “Prepare the Royal Highway” (Isaiah 40:3–5) December 15 — “Hark the Glad Sound” (Isaiah 40:6–8) December 22 — “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” (Isaiah 40:9) December 29 — “Joy to the World” (Isaiah 40:10–11) Midweek: His Name Shall Be Called During the season of Advent, we December 4 — “Wonderful Counselor” (Isaiah 9:6) December 11 — “Mighty God” (Isaiah 9:6) December 18 — “Everlasting Father” (Isaiah 9:6) December 24 — “Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6) Sunday Bible Study 10:45 AM - Grasping God’s Word
Grasping God’s Word will lead you to gain a deeper grip on the gift that God’s Word is for you! Hope to see you on Sunday after the service! Led by Pastor Keith
This Month in Our Prayers Recent Additions: • Buzz—(brother of Lizzy Savage)—healing from recent shoulder surgery/prayers for salvation Ongoing prayers: • Craig—(Edna Koek’s nephew)—healing from surgery Additional prayer requests, prayers of thanksgiving, prayers of comfort: Prayers of thanksgiving in celebration of Fred Barbaria’s birthday on Nov 30 This list is current as of November 27, 2024. Please see the most recent weekly Sunday Bulletin for the latest updates to our prayer list.
GSLC Pantry Saturday, December 7th Ongoing Needs
• Purchase food & hygiene or paper goods • Extra citrus, fruit.and/or veggies from your yard • Plastic grocery or reusable cloth bags • Help prep on Friday, December 6th • Help Saturday, December 7th, between 8:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. Notes: Food items that we don’t usually get from S.B. Food Bank, such as: - Peanut Butter, jelly, jam, syrup, flour, sugar, unsweetened almond milk - Non-sugary cereal (Ex: Wheat Chex, Cheerios, Raisin Bran), breakfast bars, oatmeal 4) Hygiene and household goods, such as: - Toilet paper, tissues, paper towels, soap - Toothpaste, floss, toothbrushes (or ask your dentist for a donation ! ) - For December, we are collecting baking goods and holiday treats. Perhaps while you are shopping for your Thanksgiving or Christmas baking and treats, get 2 items each and donate 1/2 for the miscellaneous table!
Note: We do not accept over-the-counter medicines or soft drinks/sodas. Questions? Contact or see Val Eurman ((805) 705-3311) or Cindy ((805) 680-4686) after church on Sundays.
GSLC Christmas Concert - Sunday, December 8th
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church presents Our Annual Christmas Concert with Adam Phillips and many of his talented friends . . . Laurie Rasmussen - harp, nyckelharpa Brian Mann - accordion Josh Jenkins - mandolin Bear Erickson - guitar Free Community Event (free will donations encouraged) Sunday, December 8th, 3:00 pm at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church
Preschool Cookie Walk Saturday, December 14th It’s time to start thinking about the Cookie Walk again. What is the Cookie Walk? It’s where we sell cookies that you have made. The money raised will go toward our preschool. The room is filled with the most delightful smell of homemade cookies and treats. As people walk through the door they are handed a bakery box to fill with the cookies of their choice. We sell them by the pound. You can also enjoy coffee or hot cider and the company and atmosphere of Christmas time.
This is where you come in. We need your help: The biggest area we need help is: If you have a nice platter to place the cookies on that would be great. Just be sure to label it so we can get it back to you. Otherwise we can plate them for you the day before. Please bring your cookies to the Fireside room or the Preschool on Friday, December 13th sometime between 8:30 a.m.-5:00 p.m. Thank you! Katie Eckert. Text me if you have questions (805) 453-8226.
2025 Offering Envelopes Please pick up your offering envelopes for 2025
Deck the Halls & Potluck Supper! Sunday, December 1st
Advent “Bring-a-Dish-to-Share” Suppers Fellowship suppers are back! We are having Table service will be provided. See you there!
Pointsettias for Christmas
Sign-up sheets are on the table in the Narthex or you can call the church office at 805-967-1416 if you want to sign up Deadline to sign up is Tuesday, December 17th by Noon.
Sunday Service Video Crew Member(s) Urgntly Needed We have been making our Sunday (and seasonal) worship services available on line since April, 2020, starting with Palm Sunday during the pandemic shutdown. We have a small dedicated crew from our Three members take turns on the slides and text for the screens but only one person handles the streaming setup and camera/slide video blending - and has been doing that since early 2020. We need a least one additional video person starting in January, 2025 to rotate (monthly) on the video position as well as provide occasional vacation/travel relief. If we are not able to find another crew member either the service video will be minimal (one static camera) or "go dark" on alternating months. Please consider helping us with the video position. It's pretty easy and we will train you. Please see Dan or Fred in the video area after the Sunday service or call Fred (805 680-0288) for more information. Thank you!
A Message from the Memorials and Endowments Committee The Memorials and Endowments Committee would like you to remember: • That to go in style, consider legacy giving.
Reminder: We continue our in-person meetings in the Fireside Room for our monthly book club discussions.
The books chosen for our GSLC “Better Read than Dead” club discussions are below. Join us in reading along!  December (Val) – The Christmas Blessing by Donna Vanliere (and with short planning meeting) https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/307109.The_Christmas_Blessing Jump in! New folks are welcome anytime to read with us and “meet”. Just order/start reading the “next” book in line and give me, Val Eurman, a call at 805-705-3311 or send an email for more details and to get on our email list!
Val Our Livestream Services Include Closed Captioning
Just look for the CC
 symbol on the screen (not included on phone screens due to size) and click on it. We suggest that you turn this on for Pastor's announcements and the sermon but leave it off for the liturgy and music as the liturgy and song lyrics are already on the video. Vimeo's captions are accurate and easy to read!This livestream broadcast includes the entire service - prayers, sermon and music. The liturgy will be provided on the web site as a PDF document, along with a "public" version of the weekly bulletin (no contact information and no weekly giving statement). The recording includes the liturgy and song lyrics superimposed on the video images as well as closed captioning. You are encouraged to respond to the liturgy and sing along with Adam. Go to: https://gslcms.org/watch.
If you do not have a way to view our GSLC service at home, we have a limited number of Kindle tablets available. These are provided, upon request, with recordings of GSLC's recent church services. These are self-contained touch screen video devices. Please contact Trisha at the office during the week (Monday - Thursday, 8am to noon) at 805 967-1416 for more information about the tablets.
Portals of Prayer
Portals of Prayer devotion booklets for October - December, 2024 are now available at the church office.
Please call Trisha and reserve a copy or come by the church office during business hours (Mon-Thurs 8:00 am—12:00 pm) to pick one up!
Church Office Hours Our church office is staffed Monday through Thursday from 8:00 am until noon. Please exercise social distancing if you need to come by, or call 805 967-1416.
Altar Flowers Policy If you would like to place Please make out your check to Good Shepherd Lutheran Church (GSLC) and write flowers on the memo line. You can mail it to Good Shepherd Lutheran Church or drop it by the church office Mon-Thurs, 8:00 a.m. to noon.
Quilting News & Notes We will meet on Wednesdays from 9:30 a.m. until around 1:00 p.m. in Room 19. Some Saturdays will be reserved for “work days” when we can get together and iron, cut and do some general cleaning of the room or accomplish special projects. We will let you know when those Saturdays will be! For now, Wednesdays only and we hope to see you there!
Join Adam for a Musical Meditation
Please join Adam (or a guest artist) in our sanctuary as they explore a variety of hymns and other musical prayers performed on a variety of instruments. The meditation is livestreamed on GSLC's Video Page and available afterwards as a video recording until the next live event. Older meditation videos are archived. The direct link to the Livestreamed / Latest Meditation is https://vimeo.com/event/1154783 . The Meditation Archive Showcase to view prior Meditations is at https://vimeo.com/showcase/7841964.
Most Recent Reported Weekly Offerings— Week 43 - Through October 28, 2024
Year to Date, 2024
2024 Mission Offerings: District $840.00; Nelson Family $1,753.00; Ukraine $100.00; Dental Mission $2,800.00; Hispanic Mission $470
Bible Readings Let’s read God’s Word together and see the great things God does for us through His Word! Please click HERE for the latest Sunday bulletin, which includes this week's readings.
Talking to Jesus in the Arts Art therapy with the Great Comforter  (contact Lizzie to confirm this month's date)
PCCA Talking to Jesus in the Arts
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Room 14 in the patio area
11:45 am to 4pm
Suggested Donation $50 (give as God leads)
Art Supplies are provided
“Living in Rest”
In this busy world God wants us to live in a place of rest. In this session we will paint and journal what it is for us personally to live in rest. To Quiet our souls.
Using Acrylic paints you will be guided by Lizbeth to lay down color while listening to what the Holy Spirit has to say. We do not paint realistic paintings but abstract shapes and lines to get in touch with the Holy Spirit. This is a time of hearing, sensing and seeing in your heart what God is saying to you. No wrong way to do this. Prayer for you to hear, see or feel what God is saying will come. God always shows up.
Enter into His Rest. Be at peace. It is also a way of getting confirmation to something that you may be blocked to as well. God is good and is always wanting us to connect with Him. Healing hearts one color at a time.
To Sign up for this session or if you have any questions, text Lizzy Savage at 805.453.0571. One must sign up to save your space. A limit of ten people per session. Everyone is able to do this; no art experience is required. Suggested donation is $50 - Zelle or Pay Pal. Once you have paid, Lizzy will have the art supplies for you. Drinks will be available. Must be signed up to attend the session. Talking to Jesus in the Arts sign up today! Living in the day of Rest but not resting is a challenge. Need a little talk with Jesus is always a wonderful way to start the year.
Lizzy Savage, Director
Want to Keep Up With the latest GSLC News? Click HERE
 Our weekly Sunday Bulletin has the latest GSLC news! It's chock full of our prayer list, weekly schedule, basically everything that happens between these newsletters. The "members only" bulletin version is updated every Sunday morning and is easy to get to - just click above. It will open or download for you.
GSLC's On Line Giving Options - Credit Card? eCheck?
You can also make a special one-time donation (through Square) on Good Shepherd's website. For either donation type go to https://gslcms.org/giving and then click on the appropriate donation button. You can specify whether you are donating to the GSLC budget or the Food Distribution program. If you prefer, you can also mail us your offering or drop it off at the church office. Elders Available by Phone and Email Elders assist with our public worship, oversee the spiritual life of members, and offer spiritual and physical support for our Pastor and congregation. Please contact any Elder to share your needs, concerns, and prayer requests.
Church Phone Extension Numbers Please follow the auto attendant menu prompts or dial an extension directly if no one answers. Also, the preschool can be reached through the main church number as well as their direct number (805 967-6101).
One-Stop Publicity! If your GSLC committee or group is making an announcement or planning an event, you can now send ONE email with the details and it will go to those folks editing the Sunday bulletin, church web site articles, web site calendar and monthly newsletter. The Good Shepherd publicity email address is
Staff, Board of Directors and Committee Contacts
You may find the staff contact information either above or on our web site (Staff Contacts) and congregational officer and committee chair contact information here or on the Members Only web page at gslcms.org:
On Line Event Calendar Our latest calendar is on line here. This link will take you to the "public" event calendar unless you use your member login. To see the entire calendar (with church meetings, etc.), please log in with your member ID. No member ID? Click on "Create an account" on the right hand side of the web page to get started. Your account will be approved and then you can browse the member page contents. |
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Good Shepherd Lutheran Church and Preschool
380 North Fairview Avenue, Goleta, CA 93117 • 805 967-1416
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Want to get a firmer grip on God’s Word? Read and understand the Bible better? Grow in faith? This Bible seminar is for you. Grasping God’s Word is a practical seminar that will help you read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest God’s Word! 
Come and enjoy the traditional music of the Christmas season
The Cookie Walk is on Saturday, December 14th from 8:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m., or when we run out.
in the Narthex of the church. If you do not have envelopes or notice a problem with your new ones, please contact Dave Vignoe at 967-1416, ext.103. Please begin using your new envelopes in January 2025 and toss/recycle your old ones!
Only $7.00 each! 
congregation that enters the service text and slides, puts that content on the screens in the sanctuary during the services and blends the slides, text and camera images for the weekly livestream video feed.
flowers on the altar, please call (805) 967-1416, or email (
Adam Phillips, GSLC's Music Director, provides meditative instrumental and vocal music every Wednesday morning at 10:00 am. 
Good Shepherd has offered electronic donation capabilities (through Vanco) for a while. You now have the ability to sign up directly through Good Shepherd's web site to donate on line (through Vanco) once or on a recurring basis.