O Come, O Come, Emmanuel!

Join St. James as we worship the Christ Child and celebrate his birth on Wednesday, December 24th, at 6PM. We will have a Family Christmas Eve Service with Lessons and Carols. Come along and bring your family and friends!

Come, Lord Jesus!

Checking out the lights at Riverbanks Zoo is just one of the many activities that the people of St. James have been doing these past few weeks, as we've been lighting our candles to watch for the Messiah. We've held Christmas parties for the Lutheran Men in Mission, Women of the ELCA, Saturday Sisters, and the NE Age Sunday School Class. Our OWLS enjoyed a fun night out as they went light looking around town, and our young people have created ornaments for our shut-ins, as well as Christmas cards and cookies for the college students. That's not to mention all the muisic that has been filling our halls! In addition to our Adult and High School Christmas Carol Sunday School Class this month, the handbell players, the God Rockz kids, the kids' choir, and the adult choir have all been lifting their voices and bells each Sunday in excitement as we look for our Lord's return.

Deck The Halls!

St. James is lugging our big boxes out of storage and getting stuff set up for the season of Advent. This week, on the first Sunday of Advent, we'll decorate the church together at our Hanging of The Greens Service during the 8:00 and 10:30AM worship services. Come and worship with us! We'll be singing carols, reading Scripture verses, hanging decor, lighting the tree and candles, and learning the meaning behind all the symbols of the season.

We Lift Our Voices

Our children's choir is singing new songs together every Sunday evening at 6PM. During choir, we not only spend time singing together, but we also practice rhythms, play instruments and games, and we learn about liturgy and the church year.

Happy Birthday, Martin Luther!

Our Kids' Sunday School celebrated Martin Luther's birthday this week. His actual birthday was November 10, 1483, but these 525 years later, his legacy still lives on! During our party, we played on a kid-size Luther game board, decorated Luther Rose crafts, sang songs and ate cake, and even opened some gifts for Luther. Happy Birthday, Martin Luther! We give thanks to God for your life of faith.

Fall Family Festival

We dressed up and had a good time together at St. James last weekend, inviting the community to our Fall Family Festival, where we offered scary car trunks full of candy, delicious hotdogs, yummy sweets, fun family games, and great fellowship. We celebrated Halloween by thumbing our noses at evil, always remembering that we have nothing to fear, because the resurrected Christ has made us victors over death, sin, and evil forever!

Golden Age Banquet

Earlier this month, the people of our congregation took time to honor our Golden Agers at our annual Golden Age Banquet. We shared a delicious meal together, listened to the good music of the Memory Singers, and enjoyed a nice time of fellowship. We thank God for all of our church members, young and old, who work together to share the good news of Christ's love to every person in our midst.

A Face Lift

Don't mind the furniture on the steps, the pieces of carpet on the pavement, or the tape over one of our doors! The office and education building of St. James has been under construction for the past few weeks. Our people have been working hard lately to lay down new tile and carpet, paint the walls, and rearrange the furniture to update the place and spruce things up. Want to see what it looks like inside? Stop by for a visit! Among other rennovations, you'll find that our pastors each have their own office now, our secretary's office has been rearranged, and our library has moved upstairs. We are so thankful for all of our volunteers who have helped with this whole project. The changes are looking great!

Lutheran Church Youth Conference

St. James hosted the LCY Conference this month for the first time in several years. Lutheran Youth from all over the Saxe-Gotha area gathered here for an afternoon of service activities, worship, and fun. With the help of our praise band, we lifted our voices in song and our hearts in prayer. Next on the calendar for LCY is Lutheran Youth Day at Newberry College. We can't wait!

The Kid Zone

The young people at St. James are having a blast together this fall! Whether our youth group is out getting lost in a corn maze, or our God Rockz kids are listening to Bible stories, or our toddler class is doing crafts, we know just how to celebrate God's love together! Looking for a place where your kids can grow in the love and knowledge of Christ? Join us here for our various children's activities.


Sundays:
9:15 AM - Sunday School
5:00 PM - Youth Group
6:00 PM- Children's Choir


Every Other Wednesday:
6:00PM - God Rockz

What's Going On?

No, you're not seeing things. Those are our church folks in the fellowship hall, flapping their arms like doves and rocking their arms like boats. If you join us for our morning gathering time in between 8AM worship and Sunday School, you'll get the chance to do these actions as well as sprinkle your fingers like the rain, stomp your feet like a hippopotamus, sway your arms like a tree, and have fun as you sing praises to God.

Don't miss out on all the fun at St. James! Join us this Sunday for worship and Sunday School. All are welcome here.

Sunday School Rally

Are you smarter than a church kid? At our Sunday School Rally just a few weeks ago, the adults and the church kids went head to head to determine who is smarter. They were posed questions including, "How many books are in the Bible?" and "Who were the two sisters that had Jesus over for dinner?" and "What color was the third horse in the book of Revelation?" With one question after another, the children figured out the most answers, leaving the adults in the dust. The kids not only won the game, but they also got to share some Krispy Kreme Doughnuts as a reward. What a fun time we had together as we celebrated the start of another Sunday School year.

Sinners Welcome

Christ was all about welcoming the sinner and opening his arms to those who were on a path of error, suffering, and pain. Our church hopes to do as Jesus did, opening our arms to all who are burdened, heavy-laden, and weighed down by sin. We also recognize that our church is filled with sinners, who are being saved only by the grace of God. The sign in our church parking lot reminds us all that God welcomes us sinners Sunday after Sunday! Interestingly, our church sign also seems to be helping out the local police force... They occasionally use our parking lot as a place to spot law-breakers on the run, and are hoping our sign lures them in. (There's no word yet on whether or not this plan has worked.)

Church Family Picnic

Our congregation loves to have family time together in and outside of church. This Sunday, many of us gathered together after worship for a family cookout. We not only ate hotdogs, hamburgers, salads, and desserts, we also took time out to play some games, swim, and share a time of fellowhship together.