Spiritual Life
A6
Thursday, December 30, 2021
SPIRITUAL LIFE HIGHLIGHTS
Bring in the new year
with game night, breakfast
LA GRANDE — Faith
Lutheran Church will be having
a game night Friday, Dec. 31,
from 7-9 p.m. Bring your favorite
board or table game and snacks.
There will be an opportunity
for the youth for a sleepover fol-
lowing the games. On Saturday, a
New Year’s Day breakfast will be
served at 9 a.m.
On Sunday, Jan. 2, 2022,
the sermon at Faith Lutheran’s
10 a.m. service will be drawn
from Luke 2:40-52. Verse 40
reads: “The Child (Jesus) grew
and became strong, fi lled with
wisdom. And the favor of the
Lord was upon Him.” As we
grow through childhood to adult-
hood, we can pursue eff orts to
be strong and wise. God off ers
us his wisdom and favor through
Pastor Arche Hook’s message,
“Standing on the Promises,”
comes from James 1:5: “If any of
you lacks wisdom, you should ask
God, who gives generously to all
without fi nding fault.” Worship
begins at 10 a.m.
SUBMISSIONS
Churches and faith-based groups are
encouraged to submit Highlights for the
Spiritual Life page by 4 p.m. Tuesday for
publication Thursday. Submit by email
to news@lagrandeobserver.com (with
Highlights in the subject line).
the ministry of Jesus Christ.
After the service will be the First
Sunday Potluck, Junior Confi r-
mation and a meeting of
the elders.
Worship service
celebrates the coming
of the three kings
LA GRANDE — First Chris-
tian Church (Disciples of Christ)
will celebrate Epiphany on
Sunday, Jan. 2, 2022, in honor
of the coming of the three
kings to the infant Jesus Christ.
Weekly lesson covers
beginning of the world
NORTHEASTERN OREGON
— Those who are seeking to
develop a better relationship with
God are welcome to join any
worship services at the Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints. Sunday services begin
at 9 a.m. and noon at the church
buildings on Gekeler Lane in La
Grande and McAlister Road in
Island City; services are held at
the same time on Hughes Lane
in Baker City. Services in Union,
Elgin, Enterprise, Halfway and
John Day start at 10 a.m. There
is also a singles group that meets
at 11:30 a.m. in La Grande
and another ward that meets at
10:30 a.m. in Baker.
The “Come, Follow Me”
lesson for the week of Jan. 3,
2022, is based on Genesis 1-2
(found in the Old Testament)
and on Moses 2-3 and Abraham
4-5 (found in the Pearl of Great
Price), all of which cover God’s
creation of humankind and the
world we live in.
Members are reminded that
wards sharing the same buildings
will rotate starting times for their
worship services as of Jan. 1.
Join service in person
or virtually
LA GRANDE — St. Peter’s
Episcopal Church will meet for
worship at 11 a.m. Sunday, Jan.
BILLY
HOLLAND
LIVING ON PURPOSE
T
he beginning of a
new year is a perfect
time to rededicate
our commitment to our cre-
ator and make new resolu-
tions that bring us peace and
joy. So, how do we inten-
sify our awareness of God’s
presence? Fire in the Bible
is often used to describe
spiritual adoration for the
Lord. A raging blaze within
a heart for God describes
a stronger faith and excite-
ment, while being lukewarm
is related to discouragement,
apathy and defeat. Ask him
to rekindle your embers.
For those who ponder
about the requirements for
developing and maintaining
a deeper relationship with
God, we must consider some
vital components — one of
the most critical is desire.
Ask any business person or
athlete about what it takes to
accomplish a goal and they
will always testify about
the importance of vision,
perseverance and determi-
nation. Likewise, when it
comes to drawing nearer to
the Lord we must begin with
old-fashioned enthusiasm.
The next question is
where does this passion
come from? Most Christians
will agree that Christ draws
people to himself — if you
are having thoughts about
“An important
nugget of wisdom is
to know that we can
be as close to God
as we want. Nothing
is preventing us
from walking with
him except our
resistance.”
— Dr. Billy Holland
us from walking with
him except our resistance.
We’ve heard the passage
in Romans 12:2 that talks
about not being conformed
to the world but being trans-
formed by the renewing of
our mind. We worship the
things we love, and until
our mind is changed we will
not change our behavior.
God warns us that in order
for anyone to advance with
him, we must make him our
highest priority.
Living however we want
while using God as a backup
plan, in case our arrange-
ments do not work out, is
not what God had in mind
when he sent his son to the
cross to restore us back to
him. Whatever the reasons
or excuses people make to
refuse Christ as their Lord
and king, each person will
be held accountable for the
way they lived. When it
comes to choosing what or
whom we serve, he is either
Lord of all or he is not our
Lord at all.
Let’s look at some prac-
tical actions we can take
that will make an immediate
improvement in our personal
intimacy with God. Before
we build we must have a
blueprint, and changing your
lifestyle will require a fresh
agenda. Find a quiet place
where you can read a certain
portion of the Bible every
day. Begin a prayer journal
and in this time of medita-
tion, express your deepest
thoughts to him, ask him to
fi ll you with his Spirit, and
begin to think about others
and pray for them. If you
desire to go even deeper,
you can seek out the power
of fasting, which increases
your spiritual discernment
and proves that you desire
to know him more than any-
thing in the world.
———
Dr. Holland is a Chris-
tian author, outreach min-
ister and community chap-
lain. To learn more visit
www.billyhollandministries.
com.
VISIT US
ON THE WEB
Fellowship time
follows service
LA GRANDE — Zion
Lutheran Church’s 9 a.m. ser-
vice on Sunday, Jan. 2, 2022,
will include Holy Communion.
Fellowship time will follow.
Masks and social distancing are
required. The service will also
be streamed live to YouTube. The
link for that stream will be posted
Jan. 1 on Zion’s Facebook page
and website.
— The Observer
COVID-19
Lord of all, or not at all
your spiritual life, this is
evidence that you are being
stirred by his grace. God
created us so that he could
have a close personal rela-
tionship with us.
An important nugget of
wisdom is to know that we
can be as close to God as we
want. Nothing is preventing
2, 2022. The service will include
Holy Communion. Masks and
social distancing are required.
The service will be streamed live,
and the link to that stream will be
posted to the church’s Facebook
page on Jan. 1. That same link
can also be used to watch the ser-
vice at a later time.
Vaccine
Other vaccine events offered in December:
Location: Center for Human Development
Time: 10:00 am to 2:00 pm every Friday with the exception of New Year’s Eve
in addition to Christmas Eve.
Additional options: Scheduled appointments available throughout the week.
Vaccines offered: 1st dose, 2nd dose, 3rd doses and booster vaccines. All
Covid vaccine configurations will be available including pediatric vaccination.
Other pediatric and adult immunizations also available at CHD.
CDC General Vaccine Info:
COVID-19 vaccines are effective
COVID 19-vaccines are effective and can reduce the risk of getting and
spreading the virus that causes COVID-19. Learn more about the different
COVID-19 vaccines.
COVID-19 vaccines also help children and adults from getting seriously ill
even if they do get COVID-19.
While COVID-19 tends to be milder in children than adults, it can make
children very sick, require hospitalization, and some children have even died.
Children with underlying medical conditions are more at risk for severe illness
compared to children without underlying medical conditions.
Getting children ages 5 years and older vaccinated can help protect them
from serious short- and long-term complications.
Getting everyone ages 5 years and older vaccinated can protect families and
communities, including friends and family who are not eligible for vaccination
and people at increased risk for severe illness from COVID-19.
Booster Information from CDC:
Fast Facts Everyone age 18 and older is eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine booster beginning Nov. 20,
2021. Some people are strongly advised get a booster dose to protect themselves and others. You
can choose which vaccine to get. The COVID-19 vaccines are extraordinarily effective at preventing
serious illness, hospitalization and death. That said, we are seeing immunity drop over time, espe-
cially in people over age 50 and those with compromised immune systems who are more likely to
experience severe disease, hospitalization and death. For these people, another dose boosts their
immunity, sometimes greater than what was achieved after the primary, two-dose series. Health
experts strongly recommend people over age 50, people over 18 who live in long-term care facil-
ities, and anyone who received one dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine get a booster dose.
Younger, healthy people may also get a booster dose to protect themselves and others. A booster
will re-build neutralizing antibodies that strengthen the body’s ability to fight getting a breakthrough
case. Even if you’re not at high risk, you could be infected and then pass it on to others, such as
children too young to be vaccinated, the elderly, or people who are immunocompromised. Booster
doses help people maintain strong immunity to disease longer. The first vaccine series built up
the immune system to make the antibodies needed to fight the disease. Over time, the immune
response weakens. A booster dose stimulates the initial response and tends to result in higher
antibody levels that help people maintain their immunity longer. Boosters take about two weeks to
bring up the immune response. This continues to be studied, but we can reliably say it takes two
weeks to bring the immune response up to or better than that after the primary series.
LaGrandeObserver.com
www.chdinc.org
541-962-8800
Northeast Oregon Directory of Churches
Cove United
Methodist Church
1708 Jasper St., Cove, OR
North Powder
United
Methodist Church
390 E. St., North Powder, OR
JOIN US... Catch the Spirit!
First Christian
Church
(Disciples of Christ)
Worship
10:00 a.m.
~Join us at The Lord’s Table~
SUMMERVILLE
BAPTIST CHURCH
LA GRANDE UNITED
METHODIST CHURCH
A church for your whole family
Visit us at summervillebaptistchurch.org
The Place
62848 Philynda Loop in Island City
901 Penn Avenue 963-2623 “We are called to Serve”
lgdisciples@gmail.com
Worship: 9:00 a.m. Cove
Worship: 10:00 a.m. N. Powder
Sunday Services:
Sunday School & Adult Bible Classes
9:45AM
Children’s Church & Worship Service
11:00AM
Family Worship Service
6:00PM
Wednesday:
Prayer Mtg, Children’s Bible Club, Youth
Group 7:00PM
GRACE COMMUNITY
LUTHERAN CHURCH
Sunday School for all ages - 9:00 am
Sunday Worship 10:00 am
Phone: 541-568-4230
grace.lutherancove@gmail.com
www.lagrandeumc.org
www.imblercc@gmail.com
Sunday Services
9:00 a.m.
10:00 a.m.
Sunday School
Worship Service
La Grande Seventh-day
A Place where hope is found in Jesus
Join us in Fellowship & Worship
Saturday all age classes 9:30 am
Saturday Worship 11:00 am
1612 4th Street – 963-2498
For service information go to
440 Ruckman, Imbler 534-2201
Adventist Church
“OPEN HEARTS, OPEN MINDS, OPEN DOORS”
Pastor Taylor Gould
Imbler
Christian
Church
2702 Adams Avenue, La Grande
963-4018
109 18th Street • 963-3402
Sunday School 9:15 a.m.
Sunday Worship 10:30 a.m.
lagrandeor.adventistchurch.org
Learning for Today and Eternity
Little Friends
Christian Preschool/Childcare 963-6390
La Grande Adventist Christian School
K-8th Grade 963-6203
FIRST LANDMARK
MISSIONARY BAPTIST
CHURCH
1812 1st St. La Grande
Pastor Dave Tierce • 541-605-0215
We use the King James Version Bible
Sunday School - 10:00 am
Worship 11:00 am
Sunday Evening Bible Study - 3:00 pm (Effective June 10)
Wednesday Evening - 6:30 pm
“Where you can find TRUTH according to the scriptures”
www.flmbclagrande.com
Services
This
Week