12.29.24 Bulletin & Announcements
PRAYER REQUESTS- Wyatt Simley & Family, Joan Pratt, Arlene Haux, Anderson family & baby Camden, Jorgene Alsager, Polly Roe, Carol Malone, Garret Fenner & family, Pastor Phil Larsen and family, Trudy Torgerson, Bonnie Plath, Tanya Ausk, and Erickson family. Please pray for our elders.
ANNOUNCEMENTS-
January 2025 Worship time change Davenport 9:00am Norman 11:00am
NOTE change for January worship schedule* January 5th - 9am Davenport and 11am Norman Sunday School resumes during worship.
January 12th note time changeJoint Parish Worship Service (one service only this day) 10am at Norman Lutheran. All are welcome! Meatball dinner, sleigh rides and hot cocoa bar following worship. More details to come.
January 19th - 9am Davenport Worship and 11am Norman Worship with Annual Meeting following worship.
January 26 ***note time change*** Norman will worship at 9am and Davenport 11am with Davenports Annual Meeting and potluck following worship. (we change worship times on the days of annual meetings so that Pastor Katie can stay and attend the meetings instead of having to leave to the next worship service).
*Fun Parish winter events could you help sponsor? Please contact Pastor Katie Our Gingerbread Manger scene event was sponsored! Thank you so much!
Three out of the 5 $100 Sleigh Rides & Cider Event spots have been sponsored! Thank you so much!
We are still in need of a sponsor for our Skating and Pizza at The Lights in West Fargo! $600
*Annual reports due to normandavenportparish@hotmail.com Any questions please contact Joan.
Norman Lutheran reports due by January 12. Please send in Word format. Davenport Lutheran reports due by January 19. Please send in Word format.
*Norman Members- An easy way to have your offering automatic. You may find a form in the entryway to sign up for automated giving. Any questions please see
Sarah Baumgarten, Norman Treasurer.
*Please consider signing up to help provide AA Treats, ushering, reading, coffee fellowship following Normans 9am Service. Go to ndparish.net for signup links.
*WALK IN FAITH- Walk in Faith allows us to walk alongside and help each other in the community. December collections- New men’s & women’s gloves, Cash donations for gas cards to fill up their tanks. Basket in entryway at the churches.
* The Kindred Area Food Pantry- Accepting donations of food, new or gently used men’s socks and gloves in XL sizes, personal hygiene products and dish or laundry soap. All donations can be dropped off at Kindred Lutheran Church Monday - Thursday 9am-4pm. Any questions please call Leah at 428-3630. You can also use Venmo…. @kindredfoodpantry.
There are many Outreach opportunities for our members and community… Please go to ndparish.net to learn more of ways you can help our fellow members and people in our communities. There are lend a hand up accounts, Walk in Faith, Viking Village and meal trains opportunities.
UPCOMING No Sunday School Class winter break December 29. Class resume in January 5th.
No Confirmation January 1st- class resumes Wednesday, January 8th 6:30-7:15 at Norman Lutheran
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Norman Davenport Lutheran Parish
Lessons & Carols Worship Service
Sunday, December 29th, 2024
Pastor Katie Kringstad
Today’s service will be an unconventional service of Lessons and Carols, where readings both scriptural and contemporary will carry us through the highlights of the Advent season all the way to the featured scripture from the Prologue of John, which boldly proclaims that the very Word of God has become flesh, dwelling among us. With the help of poets and lyricists, we will meditate on this miraculous story at the center of our faith in a God who promises to be Emmanuel, God-with-us.
Reader 1: Norman – Dawn Thompson Davenport: Jim Jermstad
Reader 2: Norman – Bonnie Nelson Davenport: Joan Pratt
Reader 3: Norman – Craig Olson Davenport: Carol Johnson
PRELUDE/WELCOME
DIALOGUE
Jesus, the bright Morning Star, shines light in the world.
ALL- By day and night, he shines for all to see.
Jesus was born in the midst of injustice and poverty
ALL- so that the world may see the justice and richness of God.
God so loved the world that God sent Jesus,
ALL- so that all who believe in him may not perish but have eternal life.
Jesus is the light of the world.
ALL- Jesus is the light of our lives.
Sing to God a new song!
ALL- A song of hope, joy, and peace around the world.
GATHERING SONG – O Come, All Ye Faithful (283) vs 1-2
GREETING AND PRAYER OF THE DAY
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you.
ALL- And also with you.
Let us pray.
Gracious God of heaven and earth,
you have thrown a lifeline to us in our darkness—
a beam of light that shines through Jesus.
Though born in a manger, he is the firstborn of all creation.
Though crucified on a cross, he is the Lord of life.
Fill us with the wonder and joy of his presence in the world
and in our hearts.
ALL- Amen.
FIRST READING (Reader 1) Norman: Dawn Thompson Davenport: Jim Jermstad
Genesis 3:8-19
They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, ‘Where are you?’ He said, ‘I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.’ He said, ‘Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?’ The man said, ‘The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate.’ Then the Lord God said to the woman, ‘What is this that you have done?’ The woman said, ‘The serpent tricked me, and I ate.’ The Lord God said to the serpent,‘Because you have done this, cursed are you among all animals and among all wild creatures;upon your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers;he will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.’ To the woman he said,‘I will greatly increase your pangs in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children,yet your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.’ And to the man he said,‘Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten of the treeabout which I commanded you, “You shall not eat of it”,cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat breaduntil you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken;you are dust, and to dust you shall return.’
MEDITATION (Reader 1) Norman: Dawn Thompson Davenport: Jim Jermstad
“Letter to fiancé from prison, Dec. 13, 1943” by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
We shall ponder the incomprehensibility of our lot and be assailed by the question of why, over and above the darkness already enshrouding humanity, we should be subjected to the bitter anguish of a separation whose purpose we fail to understand… And then, just when everything is bearing down on us to such an extent that we can scarcely withstand it, the Christmas message comes to tell us that all our ideas are wrong, and that what we take to be evil and dark is really good and light because it comes from God. Our eyes are at fault, that is all. God is in the manger, wealth in poverty, light in darkness, succor in abandonment. No evil can befall us; whatever men may do to us, they cannot but serve the God who is secretly revealed as love and rules the world and our lives.
FIRST CAROL O Come, All Ye Faithful (283) vs 3-4
SECOND READING (Reader 1) Norman: Dawn Thompson Davenport: Jim Jermstad
Isaiah 11:1-9
A shoot shall come out from the stock of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.
He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear; but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist, and faithfulness the belt around his loins.
The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid,the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den. They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain;for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.
MESSAGE: Pastor Katie
SECOND CAROL – Joy to the World (267) vs 1 & 2
THIRD READING: (2 Reader) Norman: Bonnie Nelson Davenport: Joan Pratt
The Annunciation (Luke 1:26-38)
In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, 27to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28And he came to her and said, ‘Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.’29But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. 30The angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. 33He will reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.’ 34Mary said to the angel, ‘How can this be, since I am a virgin?’ 35The angel said to her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. 36And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. 37For nothing will be impossible with God.’ 38Then Mary said, ‘Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.’ Then the angel departed from her.
MEDITATION: ( 2 Reader) Norman: Bonnie Nelson Davenport: Joan Pratt
A Reflection on Mary By Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Mary, grasped and seized by the Spirit
Speaks of God’s coming into the world,
Of the advent of Jesus Christ
For she knows better than anyone else what it means to wait for Christ.
She waits for him in a way unlike anyone else.
She awaits him as his mother.
She knows about the mystery of his coming,
about the Spirit that is at play here,
about the almighty God who works his wonders.
She experiences in her own body
that God’s ways with humans are wonderful,
that he isn’t bound by human standards,
that he doesn’t follow the path that humans like to lay out for him-
that his way is
beyond all understanding,
beyond all proof,
free, and
with a mind of its own.
THIRD CAROL - Joy to the World (267) vs 3 & 4
FOURTH READING: (2 Reader) Norman: Bonnie Nelson Davenport: Joan Pratt
Matthew’s Christmas Story (Matthew 1:18-25)
Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. 20But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.’22All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: 23 ‘Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel’,which means, ‘God is with us.’ 24When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife, 25but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son; and he named him Jesus.
MEDITATION: (2 Reader) Norman: Bonnie Nelson Davenport: Joan Pratt
“When the World was Dark” From Cloth for the Cradle
When the world was dark
And the city was quiet,
You came.
You crept in beside us.
And no one knew.
Only the few who dared to believe
That God might do something different.
Will you do the same this Christmas, Lord?
Will you come into the darkness of tonight’s world?
Not the friendly darkness
As when sleep rescues us from tiredness,
But the fearful darkness,
In which people have stopped believing
That the war will end
Or that food will come
Or that a government will change
Or that the church cares?
Will you come into that darkness
And do something different
To save your people from death and despair?
Will you come into the quietness of our cities and towns,
Not the friendly quietness
As when lovers hold hands,
But the fearful silence when
The phone has not rung,
The letter has not come,
The friendly voice no long speaks,
The doctor’s face says it all?
Will you come into that darkness,
And do something different,
Not to distract, but to embrace your people?
And will you come into the dark corners
and the quiet places of our lives?
We ask this not because we are guilt-ridden
Or want to be,
But because the fullness our lives long for
Depends on us being as open and vulnerable to you
As you were to us,
When you came,
Wearing no more than diapers,
And trusting human hands
To hold their maker.
Will you come into our lives,
If we open them to you
And do something different?
When the world was dark
And the city was quiet
You came.
You crept in beside us.
Do the same this Christmas, Lord,
Do the same this Christmas.
Amen.
FOURTH CAROL - We Three Kings of Orient Are vs 1 & 2
FIFTH READING (3rd Reader) Norman: Craig Olson Davenport: Carol Johnson
Journey to Bethlehem (Luke 2:1-7)
In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3All went to their own towns to be registered. 4Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. 5He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child.6While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. 7And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.
MEDITATION: (3rd Reader) Norman: Craig Olson Davenport: Carol Johnson
God in the Manger
Dietrich Bonhoeffer (a letter to his fiancé in 1943)
I think we’re going to have an exceptionally good Christmas. The very fact that every outward circumstance precludes our making provision for it will show whether we can be content with what is truly essential. I used to be very fond of thinking up and buying presents, but now that we have nothing to give, the gift God gave us in the birth of Christ will seem all the more glorious; the emptier our hands, the better we understand what Luther meant by his dying words: “We’re beggars; it’s true.” The poorer our quarters the more clearly we perceive that our hearts should be Christ’s home on earth.
FIFTH CAROL We Three Kings of Orient Are vs 3- 5
SIXTH READING (3rd Reader) Norman: Craig Olson Davenport: Carol Johnson
Shepherd/Angel Story (Luke 2:8-20)
8 In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch
over their flock by night. 9Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.10But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: 11to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. 12This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.’ 13And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, 14 ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!’
15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.’ 16So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger.17When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; 18and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. 19But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. 20The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.
MEDITATION: (3rd Reader) Norman: Craig Olson Davenport: Carol Johnson
“Magnificat” by an anonymous Chilean woman
from Soul Weavings, edited by Lyn Klug
With pride and dignity I sing my song of joy
when I feel the Lord’s presence;
I am poor and very ordinary,
but one day the Lord looked upon me
And the history of the poor will give witness to my joy.
God is unfettered and unpredictable,
He is called our great friend
And throughout our history He has favored those of us
who are weak.
His triumphant force shows itself each day
when He exposes the foolishness of the powerful.
He uncovers the feet of clay of those in power,
and nourishes the yearning of the poor.
To those who come hungry He gives bread and wine.
And to the wealthy He exposes their selfishness
and the emptiness of their ways.
This is God’s desire: always to favor the poor.
Now finally we can walk.
He is faithful to His promises.
SIXTH CAROL Away in a Manger (283)
APOSTLES’ CREED
I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to the dead.*
On the third day he rose again;
he ascended into heaven,
he is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.
PASSING OF THE PEACE
The peace of the Lord be with you always.
And also with you.
OFFERING
OFFERTORY HYMN Angels we Have Heard on High (289)
RESPONSIVE PRAYER
Let us pray.
It is you, loving God, who lights our path with truth.
ALL- Your Word, Jesus, is truth.
In his light, draw all to the manger
ALL- to gather in wonder with the shepherds.
In his light, draw all to the manger
ALL- to worship and offer our gifts with the wise ones.
In his light, draw all to the manger
ALL- to sing for joy with the angels.
In the brightness of his life
ALL- cast away the darkness of injustice, poverty, and hunger in the world.
It is you, loving God, who meets us on our way.
ALL- In the light of Jesus, show the world the way of life.
THE LORD’S PRAYER
Gathered into one in the Spirit, let us pray as Jesus taught us:
ALL- Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name,
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread;
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory,
forever and ever. Amen.
BLESSING
Praise God, from whom all blessings flow!
ALL- Praise God, all creatures here below!
You are the shepherds telling the story.
ALL- We tell it in the streets and across the land.
You are the wise ones worshiping with thanksgiving.
ALL- We worship with gifts of song and service, talents and treasures.
You are the angels announcing peace.
ALL- We live with joy and go now in peace.
May Almighty God, Father, + Son, and Holy Spirit, bless us now and forever. Amen.
SENDING SONG Go Tell it on the Mountain (290)
DISMISSAL Go in peace. Christ is with you! ALL- Thanks be to God!
POSTLUDE
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