Living missionally can and SHOULD be fun as we join Jesus on His Mission!

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1 December 2015 The Voice O f P e n t e c o s t L u t h e r a n C h u r c h As forgiven children of God, we, the Pentecost Family of Faith, are committed to show everyone Life in Christ. Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, It is without fail that when Thanksgiving arrives on the last Thursday of November it officially begins the busiest time of year!! For children it is the happiest as they wait for presents and goodies on Christmas. For students it is a long needed and earned reprieve from their studies. For parents and adults it is an endless list of things to get done: shopping, baking, cooking, cleaning, working, shoveling, resting, partying, planning, and hopefully worshipping. The first Sunday after Thanksgiving typically marks the beginning of the season of Advent. It is then 3-4 weeks later that we celebrate the birth of Christ on Christmas day but I m not telling you anything you didn t already know. For most if not all of us (who can read) this probably isn t our first Christmas. Nor is this probably your first Christmas in your neighborhood. You probably have friends or at least acquaintances living down the block or around the corner who you have grown to know over the year(s). So how have you engaged with them in the past? How have you been living missionally in your community? Here are a few suggestions on how to do just that in the coming weeks Advent/Christmas/New Years Ideas Share baked goods with neighbors. As you deliver the gift, allow time to visit a little if the opportunity is there. Take time to write out Christmas cards for your neighbors. Make each one personal and include a specific note that will bless the person/family. Have an advent-wreath-making party with neighbors. Kids love this! Say, "YES!" to an invitation to a New Year's Eve party in the neighborhood. Or team up with a couple neighbors and throw a party! One word: Football! Get together for Bowl Games, the National Championship or the Super Bowl. Living missionally can and SHOULD be fun as we join Jesus on His Mission! - Pastor J

2 Joyce Hasko 12/2 Debra Honore 12/20 Milan Alusic 12/3 Elizabeth Lisowski-12/21 Adam Pischke 12/5 Sheri Hansen 12/29 Cindy Honore 12/08 Sue Hasko 12/29 Carrie Schurrer 12/08 Tom Hasko -12/29 Rob Wear 12/08 Eva Hensel 12/29 Betty Mollerskov 12/10 John Lisowski 12/29 Robert Walther 12/10 Mike Mueller 12/30 Tyler Jacob 12/13 Deb Petri 12/31 Jay LeGath 12/17 The Annual Congregational Voting meeting will be held on Sunday December 14th, after the church service. Some of the Church Council positions will be up for a vote, and there will also be other church matters to discuss, so hope you can attend, and keep abreast of what's happening in your church. The 55+ Club Annual Christmas Party will be held on Tuesday, Dec. 1 st at 12:00 noon. You are asked to bring a dish to pass. There is a sign-up sheet in the narthex. You are also asked to bring a $5 gift to exchange. If you have any questions please contact Jane Maloney Everyone 55 and over is welcome! Jay & Shelly LeGath December 14 th 20 years Rev. Karl & Karen Luchterhand December 19 th 34 years David & Amy VanRuden December 28 th 19 years Your children may receive a special gift on Christmas morning from Jesus through the parents. All parents may bring one gift for their child(ren) and place it under the tree in the Chancel. They will be distributed Christmas day after the worship service. Print your child s name in large letters and have it under the tree at church by Christmas day. BUSY THIS HOLIDAY SEASON? Need some help in the kitchen? The youth are here to help you out! On December 6th and 13th you can get a meal prepared and ready to heat. The youth will be selling these casseroles after the Sunday services. Two different sizes available. Please prepare to join us for the upcoming Sunday School Christmas Program, Sunday, December 20 th Christmas: We re On the Air All the Sunday School children are invited to participate in the Christmas program. Rehearsals are every Saturday starting at 10:30am. Ladies of the church, please join in on Sunday, December 6 th at 6:00pm as we welcome in the advent season with song and fellowship, food and laughter. There is a sign-up sheet in the Narthex, and all ladies are welcome and encouraged to share in the festivities. We hope you can join us! If you have any questions, please contact either Elizabeth Bitner or Courtney Jacob.

3 ADVENT SOUP SUPPER: Our youth will be hosting the first Advent Fellowship "before" church service on Wednesday, December 2nd at 6pm. It will be a "Soup Supper". Come for some great varieties of soups (homemade from scratch). There will be a "free will donation" and will go towards their New Orleans convention next year. Come for some good home cooking and some fellowship before church service. If you are interested in making a pot of soup, please contact Katy Wagner. CONSIDER OUR ELDERLY AS WINTER WEATHER APPROACHES As cooler and wintry weather approaches, consider leaving some of the parking places closest to the church doors open for our elderly and those with difficulty walking. Thank you for your care and kindness. CHILI COOK-OFF - Looking ahead to January, we will be having a chili cook off on Saturday, January 16, 2016, after the worship service. More information to come. Our next community outreach will benefit the homeless shelters. We will be collecting socks for men, women and children any sizes. There is a bin in the narthex for any donations. Thank you for your help to keep the homeless warmer this winter. Take a look at the wonderful books and DVD s offered from our library in the Fellowship Hall. These are all family oriented. Red, bring back or pass it on! The Respite Care Team Pastor Jacob is looking to start a new program at Pentecost - The Respite Care Team. The purpose of the program is to take better care of our members (in-reach) and try to provide for their needs. The team would consist of volunteers organized in 5 sub-groups. Each sub-group of volunteers will be led by a coordinator working with Pastor Jacob The sub-group categories are: Card Writing: write and send cards get well cards, birthday and anniversary cards, thinking of you cards, etc. Transportation: help with the transportation needs of our members pick up for church, doctor s appointments, grocery shopping help, etc. Meals Preparation: prepare meals for short term care for those in need family member in hospital, after the birth of a child, death in the family Contact: keeping in touch with members - check in by phone or in person Special Celebrations: help plan and celebrate significant milestones 90 th birthday, 50 th anniversary, etc. If you can serve your Pentecost family in any of these areas, would you please consider joining one of these groups either as a volunteer or a group coordinator? If you have any questions or would like to discuss your gifts and involvement, please contact Pastor Jacob to let him know of your interest. Keeping Christmas Are you willing to believe that love is the strongest thing in the world stronger than hate, stronger than evil, stronger than death and that the blessed life which began in Bethlehem [two thousand] years ago is the image and brightness of Eternal Love? Then you can keep Christmas. And if you can keep it for a day, why not always? But you can never keep it alone. - Henry Van Dyke

4 Stewardship Corner Small packages, big things! Remember that candy commercial declaring, Big things come in small packages? The prophet s message to tiny Bethlehem is similar: Though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel (Micah 5:2, NIV). We ve all felt too small for a certain role: too little to play with the big kids too skinny to make the football team short on the skills needed for a choice assignment. Perhaps we fear our gift of money is too little to make a difference, or the small amount of time we can volunteer isn t even worth it. But God brings big things out of small packages. From a newborn baby merely six to eight pounds of helplessness God brought salvation for the whole world. Rest assured, he ll do big things through you, too. Return Gift Giving Ornaments Dec. 5-6 One of those big things God will do through you is buying gifts for our shut ins and others in need. On the weekend of December 5-6, we will have a special gift basket in which you can place your Gift Giving Ornament money you keep the ornament and just return the bag. Remember to put your name and envelope number in the bag if you want credit on your giving record. Thanks to all from the Stewardship Committee for your support of our projects through the year. We had the Bakeless Bake Sale for the Bathroom Update Project, Pentecost Birthday Gift to help us catch up on our bills, the Noisy Offering for the nursery area, and the final one - the Gift Giving Ornament. Your response has been great throughout the year! When we were children, we were grateful to those who filled our stockings at Christmas time. Why are we not grateful to God for filling our stockings with legs? G.K. Chesterton This was never brought home to me more clearly than the night I sat next to a veteran and complained about my cold feet only to find that he didn t have any. Never forget to thank God for everything He has given you including cold feet because at least it means you have feet. Angels We Have Heard on High In medieval times, French shepherds had a Christmas Eve tradition of shouting Gloria in excelsis Deo to each other as they watched over their sheep flocks on their respective hills in southern France. That phrase is now famous as the chorus of Angels We Have Heard on High. Its most memorable feature is its chorus Gloria in Excelsis Deo!, which is Latin for Glory to God in the Highest. It was called The Angel s Hymn and became the first Christmas hymn of the Christian church. Angels We Have Heard on High was first published in 1855 in the French songbook Nouveau recueil de cantiques, and records indicate that the song had been used in church masses for more than fifty years before that publication. During those five decades the lyrics were coupled with the melody that is still used today. Except for the verses translated into languages other than French, today the song is sung just as it was a hundred and fifty years ago. Yet for maybe a thousand years or more before that, monks probably sang this same song as they celebrated the birth of the Savior. The story may well be as old as the church itself. Another facet of this carol that would seem to tie at least its chorus to the very early Catholic church is the range of notes found in the chorus. While most modern carols move up and down and cover at least an octave and a half, thus testing the upper or lower limits of the average singer, the phrase Gloria in excelsis Deo barely moves at all. In addition, the melody used by the song never strays more than one octave and the verse moves through only six notes. This simplicity seems to tie the melody to early chants used by monk and taught to their congregations Quick Quote God gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today. Have you used one to say thank you? William A. Ward Texas Newspaper Editor We all take different paths in life, but no matter where we go, we take a little of each other everywhere. Tim McGraw

5 Joining the 90s Club Happy 90 th Birthday Milan Alusic On December 3 rd, Milan Alusic joins his sister Helen in the ranks of our 90 year old members. Milan and Helen s father was one of the charter members of our church, so the Alusics have been life long members. Between them Milan and Helen have 181 ½ years of membership in Pentecost Lutheran Church! Sunday School 1937, Navy, Church Council late 60s, directory 2014, lift dedication 2011 Milan served in the US Navy during WW II and was reactivated for the Korean War. He was a radio man and went to radio school in Idaho. He was in the Philippines during the fighting there. While on Guam, he was a transmitter operator for weather conditions. He also served on an aircraft carrier for about a month. He said the second time you know all the ropes you knew what you could and couldn t do. After returning from the service, Milan served on the church council and was a member of the first building committee for our new church. Committees were elected annually at that time. How fitting that he would also be the first member to officially use the new lift after it was dedicated. When he retired from Western Publishing after working there 40 years, he joined the Oplatky Crew, faithfully taking his turn at holding the iron or pouring on the batter. Travel, fishing, and collecting money (both coins and paper) were hobbies he enjoyed. He was secretary of the International Bank Note Society for many years. He attended many coin shows, local and regional, even traveling to England for one. Milan and Helen s father, Steve Alusic, was married twice. His first wife had children before she was married to Steve. These included Gus, Steve, Mildred and John Slezak. Joe and a sister were born during their marriage. When she passed on, Steve remarried. Helen, Milan, and Marian were born during this marriage. Helen Alusic Helen, Steve Holly, and Milan making Oplatky. When we celebrated our 95 th Church Anniversary, Helen Alusic listed some of her favorite memories of Pentecost for our Memories Book. 1. I remember the old church and the many Luther League Conventions. The get togethers and the treasure hunts that were a lot of fun. 2. I remember the meals served in the old kitchen which was very limited. Sometimes too many cooks spoiled the broth. 3. I remember Mr. Chovan and George Adam who so faithfully played the organ there. 4. I remember and treasure the friendships that came from attending the old and new

6 church. 5. What a major decision it was to build a new church. 6. Mrs. Cizmar organized a come as you are breakfast at the Parish House which at that time was the home of the Cizmars. Helen taught English and World History at Lutheran High School. After that she worked for 12 ½ years in a doctor s office as she put it in a one girl office. During this time she was also helping care for her father. She took a year off after her father died, and then worked for 22 ½ years in the social studies department at Horlick High School. In her younger years, Helen Sunday School 1937, Confirmation, 67 church Directory, making oplatky enjoyed tennis, swimming gymnastics, travel and reading. She was active in the Luther League, choir, and Ruth Circle. Helen was one of three choir members recognized for 50+ years as a choir member. Helen regretted that during her father s illness she was unable to travel to England to participate in a friend s wedding. She was able to connect with the friend again many years later when traveling in Greece and spent a couple weeks with her there. She spent a week driving around Europe with Jan DeKeuster and also made several trips to Czechoslovakia where she looked up relatives. For many years Helen was active in making oplatky. She was also a lector until recent health issues prevented her participating and still is an active member of the Book Club. Helen celebrated her 91 st birthday June 2. We also want to wish a Happy Birthday to another 90+ special lady. Betty Mollerskov will celebrate her birthday December 10. Betty and her sister, Norma Hansen, are both 90+ years old. We look forward to hearing about their lives next month. Laws or love? Businessman John Barrier, unrecognizable in jeans and a T-shirt, cashed a check at his longtime bank. But the teller refused to validate his parking ticket, saying Barrier hadn t made an official transaction. A manager agreed, saying rules were rules. Barrier then performed a major transaction: withdrawing $1 million and taking it elsewhere. He got his parking ticket validated after all. What a great illustration of the perils of legalism, when man-made laws become more important than people. Jesus repeatedly healed and worked on the Sabbath, much to the dismay of religious leaders. He was concerned about people s hearts, not their appearance. What matters more to you: laws or love? appearance or substance? A heart examination may be in order!

7 Dear Pentecost Family, 24 members of our Pentecost Lutheran Church youth group will be traveling to New Orleans, LA for the LCMS National Youth Gathering, July 16 20, The Youth Gathering is expecting 25,000 30,000 youth and youth leaders attending. The theme of the Youth Gathering is In Christ Alone. We will come together around the book of Philippians and three subthemes: Humility, Identity, and Community. The convention will include inspirational speakers, musicians, ministers, communion, servant events, a live feed, and booths for various Christian organizations and universities. To raise funds for the trip, we re selling shares. If you purchase a share, you ll be investing in our trip and will be paid back in the stories, photos and experiences we ll bring back, as well as being invited to the Shareholder Dinner where we will share our experience with all those who are able to attend. The shares are twenty dollars each and the profits will go to cover trip costs: transportation, hotel, etc. We would be very thankful if you would be able to buy a share. If you are interested in buying a share, please give this form to any member of our youth group and we will give you a share and ensure that you re included in all the mailings and internet postings of the trip. Thank you, THE PENTECOST YOUTH GROUP Yes! I would like to invest in the youth traveling to the LCMS National Youth Gathering! Name of youth I am supporting: My name: Address: address (to receive Shareholder News ): Checks can be made payable to: Pentecost Youth Group and given to the youth or mailed to: Pentecost Lutheran Church 2213 Coolidge Avenue Racine, WI (Attn: Youth Group)