 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Monthly Newsletter for November, 2025
Newsletter Highlights This Month (click on a link to view)
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.
No not just anyone you see on the street (although you could). This is about the folks that you do not recognize at our Good Shepherd Sunday worship service. Newcomers. Visitors. Church shoppers. Even long-time members. Let's all say hello and introduce ourselves to someone that we don't recognize in the pews. Something like "Good morning! I'm not sure if we've met. I'm . . . "
November Sermon Series - Malachi - Using God’s Gifts for God’s Glory
So why spend an entire month on such a little-known book of the Bible? Simple. The book of Malachi announces the Gospel of God’s covenant election and coming Messiah to empower believers to manage God’s gifts for God’s glory. How often does apathy get in the way of our walk with Jesus? Apathy? It’s a compound of two Greek words that literally means, “No passion.” We all know the feeling—the days when our get up and go got up and went. Then what? We don’t manage God’s gifts—especially His gifts of money and investments—for His glory and the spread of His Gospel. His Gospel! That’s what the prophet Malachi announces to awake us out of spiritual slumber so that, with renewed zeal, we open wide our eyes to the goodness of our God. And there’s only one way to live after a fresh encounter with the Gospel of God’s forgiveness and renewing Spirit in Christ Jesus. For His glory! Here are the sermon themes as we make our way through Malachi: November 2: Looking in the right places makes faithful stewards November 9: God gets our attention so we bring Him righteous offerings November 16: God calms our financial fears November 23: Christ’s return empowers joyful stewardship I will also be leading a Bible study on Malachi. All of this, and so much more, is coming your way. I invite you to participate in this year’s stewardship emphasis joyfully and enthusiastically! Pastor Keith
November Bible Study: Malachi Our Bible study in November will be on the Old Testament book of Malachi. This "not very often" studied book is an explanation of how Yahweh is going to intervene in human affairs. Yahweh's ultimate intervention is the giving us His Son, Jesus Christ, as the Savior for all Our Bible study is after the Sunday worship service, 11:00am-Noon, in the sanctuary. I invite you to join in our study of Malachi. - Pastor Keith
Advent "Bring A Dish To Share" Meals Fellowship meals are back with an addition! We are having our “Bring-a-Dish-to-Share” meals every Wednesday during Advent beginning December 3rd.
The first service begins at 11:15 a.m. with a potluck lunch after that service. The second service is our regular evening service. Suppers will start at 6:00 p.m. with the service starting at 7:00 p.m. Bring any main dish, side dish or dessert you like and come and enjoy fellowship. Table service will be provided.
This Month in Our Prayers For Successful Medical Care and Healing For Our Members: Val E.—healing from upcoming hip replacement surgery on Nov 4 For Friends and Family Members: Additional prayer requests, prayers of thanksgiving, prayers of comfort: Prayers of thanksgiving in celebration of Bob Sandow’s birthday on 11/2 This list is current as of October 31st, 2025. Please see the most recent weekly Sunday Bulletin for the latest updates to our prayer list.
Congregational Meeting November 23rd We will be holding our semi-annual GSLC
Sunday Service Lectors Wanted - No Experience Needed
The lectors typically read the Old and New Testament readings, including psalms as scheduled. Please see Pastor Keith if you are interested.
Come and Help with Our GSLC Pantry Saturday, December 6th
Ongoing Needs • Donate $$ • 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 5th • Help Saturday, December 6th, between 8:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. Notes: Food items that we don’t usually get fromS.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 our Miscellaneous Table We are collecting individual items such as deodorant, shampoos/conditioners, cleaning supplies, diapers/wipes, male/female personal items...). Perhaps you have extras in your cupboards or can buy some locally.
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.
It's Cookie Walk Time! What is the Cookie Walk? It’s where our Preschool sells cookies that you have made! The room is filled with the most delightful smell of homemade cookies and treats. The money raised will go toward our Preschool.
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. We need cookies! We are asking for your help by baking 6 dozen or more of your special family favorites that you make at Christmas time. Please no store bought cookies. If you have a nice platter to place the cookies on, that would be great! Just be sure it’s labeled. Otherwise we can plate them for you the day before. Please bring your cookies to the Fireside Room or Preschool on Friday, December 12th sometime between 8:30 a.m.-5:00 p.m. Please text Katie with questions at (805) 453-8226. Thank you so much for supporting the Preschool in this vital ministry of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church! -Katie Eckert.
We continue our in-person meetings in the Fireside Room for our monthly book club discussions.
The books chosen for our 2025 GSLC “Better Read than Dead” club discussions are below (click on link for the GoodReads summary). Join us in reading along!
The book chosen for our December meeting is Christmas With a Crank by Courtney Walsh. 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
The Craft Auction is Back! Save the Date - Sunday, November 16, 2025.1:00 p.m.- 4:00 p.m. in the Fireside Room. Time to start new craft projects or finish the ones you have! More information to come as we get closer to the auction. Bible Readings
Please click HERE for the latest Sunday bulletin, which includes this week's readings.
New Church Office Hours Our church office is normally staffed Monday through Thursday from 8:30 am until 12:30 pm.
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.
Jesus Sessions We continue with our Jesus Sessions every Tuesday from 3:30 to 6.
The prayer team meets in the Fireside Room. Please call Lizzie to make an appointment if you would like to attend.
Portals of Prayer
Portals of Prayer devotion booklets for October - December, 2025 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!
Most Recent Reported Weekly Offerings - Week 42 - Through October 28, 2025
Year to Date, 2025
2025 Mission Offerings (as of 10/28/25): District $720.00; Nelson Family $1.000.00; Ukraine $500.00; Dental Mission $2,100.00; Hispanic Mission $0.00; Bible Sticks $0.00, Disaster Relief - Fire $175.00
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 Other Leadership 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. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church and Preschool
380 North Fairview Avenue, Goleta, CA 93117 • 805 967-1416
Not interested in the newsletter any more?
Unsubscribe with the newsletter notice email that you received.
. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
What do you know about the book of Malachi? That it’s the last book in the Old Testament? Anything after that? Probably not. And you’re not alone. Few Christians have ever studied Malachi.
There will be two mid-week Advent services on each Wednesday beginning December 3rd.
Voters' Meetingin the sanctuary on Sunday, November 23rd at 11:00 am. The annual budget will be presented and voted upon. Please plan to attend!
We are bringing back the Sunday Service lectors on Good Shepherd Sunday, September 14th. If you have lectored before, please come back. If you never have lectored before we want you!
We are low on clothing for everyone, especially for men. Also we can use blankets, linens and jackets. All items must be clean and ready to use.
The Cooke Walk is on Saturday, December 13th from 8:00 a.m.- 11:00 a.m.
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.