St. Peter s Proverbs. January 2019

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JANUARY CALENDAR OF EVENTS Jan. 1 Fresh Hope Jan. 2 Jan. 3 Jan. 6 Ladies Aid Confirmation Befrienders Dartball at St. Marks-Symco Youth Serve 12 pm 7:30 pm 11:30 am Jan.

Peter s 2-Weyauwega 7:30 pm Jan. 13 Jan. 14 Fresh Hope Jan. 15 Quilting Jan. 16 Confirmation Jan. 17 Dartball Here 7:30 pm Jan. 20 Jan. 21 Fresh Hope Jan. 22 Quilting Jan.

1 JANUARY CALENDAR OF EVENTS Jan. 1 Fresh Hope Jan. 2 Jan. 3 Jan. 6 Ladies Aid Confirmation Befrienders Dartball at St. Marks-Symco Youth Serve 12 pm 7:30 pm 11:30 am Jan. 7 Fresh Hope Jan. 8 Quilting Jan. 9 Healing Conference Committee Meeting 24/7 Small Group Meeting Confirmation 4:30 pm 5:30 pm Jan. 10 Dartball at St. Peter s 2-Weyauwega 7:30 pm Jan. 13 Jan. 14 Fresh Hope Jan. 15 Quilting Jan. 16 Confirmation Jan. 17 Dartball Here 7:30 pm Jan. 20 Jan. 21 Fresh Hope Jan. 22 Quilting Jan /7 Small Group Study Confirmation 5:30 pm Jan. 24 Dartball at Emmaus-Lind Center 7:30 pm Jan. 27 Annual Meeting with Potluck 11:30 am Jan. 28 Fresh Hope Jan. 29 Quilting Jan. 30 Confirmation Jan. 31 Dartball at Zion-Manawa 7:30 pm Here s to the blessing of the year, Here s to the friends we hold so dear, To peace on earth, both far and near! May Jesus light shine on you all year long! St. Peter s Proverbs January 2019 St. Peter s Lutheran Church N10685 Petersen Rd., Marion, WI stpetersbigfalls@gmail.com 12

Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht Dear Friends: The following was offered as a homily at Christmas Eve worship. May these thoughts bless you into the new year!

Children out of wedlock were a crime at this time: Although they were permitted to carry the name of their father, they were stigmatized from birth.

At the cathedral where the young man attended mass, the choir master recognized his musical talents and was determined that Joseph would pursue an education.

2 Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht Dear Friends: The following was offered as a homily at Christmas Eve worship. May these thoughts bless you into the new year! Joseph Mohr was the son of a poor, unwed mother, Anna Schoiber of Salzburg, Austria. His father deserted his mother the year Joseph was born in Children out of wedlock were a crime at this time: Although they were permitted to carry the name of their father, they were stigmatized from birth. Mohr and his mother lived in extreme poverty with his mother's mother. At the cathedral where the young man attended mass, the choir master recognized his musical talents and was determined that Joseph would pursue an education. After completing his work with honors at grammar school, he continued his education at the catholic seminary in Salzburg. Because he was a child born out of wedlock, he required special permission from the church to do so. In 1815, the then only 23-year-old was ordained as a priest. In August of 1815, he was assigned to his first church, located in Mariapfarr in the Salzburg province. His father's father lived nearby in the village of Stranach, about a thirty-minute walk to the south. It is during this time at Mariapfarr that Mohr wrote a poem he entitled Stille Nacht! Heilige Nacht! What exactly was his inspiration is not known. Perhaps it was instilled by the beautiful, show-clad landscape as he walked from Mariapfarr to Stranach on a visit to his grandfather. Mohr s tenure at Mariafparr was interrupted by poor health that required him to be removed to Salzburg for hospitalization. After his recovery, he was sent to the Nicola-Kirche, St. Nicholas Church, in Oberndorf. St. Nicholas was a new church located on the banks of the Salzach River and Mohr was to serve in the position of assistant priest. As Christmas 1818 approached, the church s organ ceased to function. Legend has it that mice had eaten through the bellows. It appeared that the church s Christmas Mass would sadly be minus musical accompaniment. Mohr met with the church s organist and his good friend, Franz Xavier Gruber, to work on an alternative. The six verses of "stille nacht heilige nacht" he had written two years prior seemed perfect for the Christmas Eve Mass and the musical accompaniment Gruber composed for the poem was pure inspired genius. That night, the two men sang the verses as a duet accompanied by Mohr on the guitar. The choir repeated the last two phrases in four-part harmony. The 2 (continued on Page 3) Now is the time to sign up for Fellowship Hour for January. If you, a group, family, etc. would like to sign up for a date contact Jackie via phone at or . Fellowship time does not need to be a complete meal, coffee and donuts, cookies, etc. are always appreciated. RightNow Media Deactivated As of January 1 RightNow Media will be deactivated due to the internet issues that so many of us have and are unable to use the site. Christmas Poinsettias Thank you to the following for their donations of money for poinsettias during the Christmas season and to Suzanne Miller for purchasing and watering them. Shorty & Faye Miller in memory of their parents Tom & Sheri Anderson in memory of Andy & Jeanette Anderson and Shane Anderson Mike & Jeanne Rohloff in honor of family & loved ones Ron & Sue Miller in memory of Henry Erma & Irene Knitt, Phylis Behnke and Tom Miller Lola Zaug in memory of Dale Zaug & Sadie Knaack Joe, Melissa, Jaden & Ella Stuhr in memory of Joshua Stuhr Peter & Cindy Fannin in memory of Milton Fannin, Liam Fannin & Ron Hooyman Jack & Rosie Bazile in memory of their parents Tina Schultz in memory of Edith Schultz Jen Reinke in memory of Janice Reinke Rick & Tracey Mengert in memory of Harvey, Violet & Neil & Wayne Beyersdorf Lee & Jackie Baldwin in memory of parents Earl & Loretta Baldwin & John & Carol Pfeiler & in honor of families Dave & Mary Ann Zilz in memory of their parents: Harlan & Stella Haunschild & Harvey & Hazel Zilz Glen & Kathy Davids in memory of Louis Fournier Look for St. Peter s Lutheran Church-Big Falls Many of our announcements are on our Facebook page. If you have not liked us, please do so and keep up-to-date on all the happenings at our church! Our website is also kept updated so visit us at 11

First Fruits giving is taking 10% out of what is collected weekly and giving it to benevolence.

3 Wild Game Feed Date for the Wild Game Feed sponsored by the Men s Outdoor Ministry has been set for Saturday, March 9. Stay tuned for more details! First Fruits Benevolence Giving At our Annual Meeting it was voted to give a First Fruits giving of 10% that would go directly to benevolence. First Fruits giving is taking 10% out of what is collected weekly and giving it to benevolence. This amount does not go into the operating expenses for our congregation it goes to support God s work beyond our congregation. So if you give $100 each week, $90 goes into the operating budget and $10 goes into benevolence. If you wish to give more to benevolence you may do so by writing the amount and where it is to go (according to the groups that the committee has selected). You may contact a member of the Benevolence Committee: Sue Miller, Kelly Zillmer or Ron Nyhouse. We are asking that you take a look at your giving and if possible to give an extra 10% in order that our budget is reached for the year. Any questions can be directed to one of the trustees. 10 If God is all you have you have all you need. -John 14:8 Mama s House of Hope Resale Shop Clothes Closet Mama s House of Hope Resale Shop (Clothes Closet), is located in the old Marion hardware store on the corner of 1st Street and Ramsdell Street. They are open Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday morning from 9 a.m. to noon. Each church of the Marion Area Ministerial Association volunteers to staff House of Hope one week of the month. St. Peter s week is the third week of the month but volunteers can work other weeks also. Volunteers are always needed. If you would like to volunteer contact Lola Zaug at or you can stop at the store and place your name on the monthly calendar. Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht (Continued from Page 2) performance was very well received and like the ripples of a pebble tossed in a pond, the new carol began to spread. Fast forward 20 years: while touring in 1839, the Rainers (an earlier version of the Von Trapp family) were the first to perform the carol in the United States. On Christmas Day, in front of Trinity Episcopal Church at Broadway and Wall Street in Manhattan, Americans were introduced to what would become their favorite carol. Fast forward 25 more years: During the Civil War in the 1860's, Rev. John Freeman Young translated the lyrics into the words we are so familiar with today. Rev. Young took three of the original six verses and changed their order, placing the first, sixth, and second stanzas into the pattern that has become the standard, even for Austrians. Now fast forward another 50 years: The simplistic beauty of Silent Night with it's timeless message of an infant Savior who brought grace and peace to a weary world, has already helped it become the world s most beloved and well-known carol as was demonstrated by this incident on Christmas Eve of World War I had forced servicemen from many countries to experience Christmas in muddy, cold trenches away from family and friends. On this particular Christmas Eve, German and British troops found themselves hunkered down in trenches just yards apart on the front line of the war. The weather took a sudden turn as a deep cold front crossed the lines. Water in the muddy trenches began to turn to icy slush as the men shuddered from the cold. British outlooks began to report twinkling lights coming from the German lines. As their commanders observed the enemy through binoculars, they could see the German soldiers with small Christmas trees adorned with lighted candles. It appeared the German soldiers were extending a Christmas greeting to their foe. Suddenly there was a sound of singing, joined by others who added a harmony to the words Stille Nacht, Heilig Nacht. The British quickly recognized the carol and began to lay down their arms to venture out into the open, joining their enemy in singing Silent Night. An undeclared truce broke out and superiors refrained from stopping it. One British soldier put up a board that read Merry Christmas, and a German soldier did the same. Two soldiers from each side then walked toward each other and shook hands. Some of the Germans spoke English, breaking the language barrier that possibly could have separated the two sides. Together the men sat around campfires exchanging stories and small gifts such as buttons and chocolate bars and comparing family photos. On Christmas Day, the two enemy forces found themselves playing games together in No 3 (continued on Page 4)

Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht (Continued from Page 3) Man s Land, the area between the front line trenches. Then on December 26, at 8:30 a.m. the truce ended just as it began, peacefully.

4 Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht (Continued from Page 3) Man s Land, the area between the front line trenches. Then on December 26, at 8:30 a.m. the truce ended just as it began, peacefully. The British commander shot three rounds into the air with the German commander echoing back with two rounds, a signal that the war was back on. But for those men, in that particular place, amid all the atrocities and suffering war brings, for that brief moment of time, there was heavenly peace... This is the translation (as closely as possible and still able to make sense to us in English) to the actual German lyrics of Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht: All asleep; alone awake just that faithful, holy couple. The nice boy with curly hair Sleeps in heavenly peace, Sleeps in heavenly peace! O Son of God, lovingly laugh from your divine mouth! Now, the hour of salvation rings for us, Jesus, in thy birth, Jesus, in thy birth! Silent night, holy night That brought the world salvation from the golden heights of Heaven, Let us see the abundance of grace: Jesus in human form, Jesus in human form. When today all the power of Fatherly love has overflowed, and Jesus, as brother, humbly embraced the people in the world, The people in the world. Long since intended for us when the Lord, freed of wrath, In the Father's "old grey" time, promised all the world protection, Promised all the world protection. To the shepherds, first announced by the angels' hallelujah: It's sounding aloud from far and near: 4 (continued on Page 5) 9

Flyers are available at the church for anyone to take a few and pass out to family and friends.

5 Healing Conference Scheduled for February 9 The date has been set for the Healing Conference. Mark your calendars for Saturday, Feb. 9, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The committee: Nancy Heiman, Faye Miller, Pastor Janice, Tia Bestul, Cindy Fannin, Judy Anklam, Jackie Baldwin and Patty Beck; are working hard to get the word out to area congregations. Flyers are available at the church for anyone to take a few and pass out to family and friends. Dave and Kathy Werner, Directors of the Healing Rooms of Green Bay and the Wisconsin State Directors of the International Association of Healing Rooms (IAHR) will present the conference with teaching, testimonies, demonstrations and ministry. Dave s journey with Jesus Christ began in 1970 when he committed his life to Christ. He was filled with the Holy Spirit shortly thereafter and his life has never been the same. In 1972, God anointed Dave and called him into the ministry, and he became an ordained Pastor and Bible study teacher. He has also done much marriage counseling with a heart to minister to broken-hearted people. He was married for 42 yrs. to his late wife, Maxine, and raised one son and two daughters. Kathy began her walk with Christ in 1974 and was baptized in the Holy Spirit a month later. She was married for 45 yrs. to her late husband Steve, and together they had four daughters. She is a Bible teacher and writer, and has taught many women's conferences and seminars on intimacy with God through journaling. In 2014, God placed it on Kathy's heart to pursue the healing rooms ministry, and two years later He supernaturally brought Dave and Kathy together to fulfill this vision. They were married in April 2016 and opened the Healing Rooms of Green Bay two weeks later. Registrations for the conference have begun to come in! Make sure to reserve your spot today. Go to and click on the Healing Conference Registration tab. 8 Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht (Continued from Page 4) "Jesus the Savior is here." "Jesus the Savior is here." I would wager that Silent Night has been heard 100's of millions of times this Christmas season alone in stores, on radio stations, in churches and anywhere else you might hear Christmas music being played, everywhere around the globe. It has been translated in over 300 languages. Yet, Father Joseph died at the age of 56 in the year 1848 never knowing the impact his sweet little poem would have on the world. Point of fact, in going back over Mohr's life, it actually seems a rather unimpressive life. However, change even one circumstance, from being an illegitimate child being taken under the wing of the Churches' choir director from whom he learned music, to spending a short stint in cold Stranach where he was inspired to write a poem, to getting sick and having to move to a church in warmer climate where he met Gruber, his collaborator on the song, even down to the mice chewing through the bellows which caused the need for a different kind of carol for the Christmas Eve Mass, and Silent Night probably would not have been written. Sometimes it blows me away when I see how God takes the seemingly random threads of our lives and weaves a magnificent tapestry. So how's your tapestry coming along? Held any Billy Graham type crusades lately? Saved any remote Amazon jungle villages by taking them the message of Salvation? Healed any lepers? No? Well, writing that poem was not a magnificent gesture on Father Joseph's part either. He just wrote down on paper what he felt in his heart. God took that simple act of worship and used it to bring comfort and joy to countless millions of hearts. It is not what Mohr did, it is what God did. As we go forward from this service tonight and into the coming year, let's remember that it will also most likely be our simple acts that God will use to impact the sphere in which we live. If the ripples from our pebbles in the pond even impacts just one soul who comes to know Christ, the angels in heaven will rejoice and that truly would be magnificent! Amen? Colossians 3:23-24 And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ. Now let's close our service with the singing of the Silent Night we all know and love in the manner in which it was originally performed, with guitar accompaniment. Please form a circle around the walls of the sanctuary. Pastor will light her candle from the 5 (continued on Page 6)

Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht (Continued from Page 6) Christ candle, and the flame will be passed from one person to the next, symbolizing how His light has been passed down through the ages in an

He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life." John 8:12 Pastor Janice Thrivent Choice Dollars Thrivent members you may have Choice Dollars to direct.

For more information contact Lola Zaug, St. Peter s congregational advocate. Choice Dollars must be directed by March 31, 2019. From Kay Knight 715-460-2131 rascal01@frontiernet.

6 Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht (Continued from Page 6) Christ candle, and the flame will be passed from one person to the next, symbolizing how His light has been passed down through the ages in an unbroken chain to each one of us and how now, we in turn, must pass His light on to others. Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying "I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life." John 8:12 Pastor Janice Thrivent Choice Dollars Thrivent members you may have Choice Dollars to direct. Call thrivent and say Choice Dollars. You can direct to St. Peter s or another charity on their list or you can go to click on My Thrivent tab and Direct Thrivent Choice Dollars. For more information contact Lola Zaug, St. Peter s congregational advocate. Choice Dollars must be directed by March 31, From Kay Knight rascal01@frontiernet.net Youth group is not just for St. Peter s youth. Any kids 6th grade through 12th grade can participate in any or all meetings and events. This group is meant to build fellowship and relationships between all kids to give them Christian support and love. All friends are welcome! All youth members are asked to help serve lunch as many times as possible. All you need is a dish to share as well as help in serving and cleaning up. Pizzas will be made and delivered on January 5 starting at 9 a.m. and finishing around noon with a good, hard-working group. March 29-31, Faith Quake in the Dells, more information will be coming soon, but mark your calendars!! 6 ANNUAL MEETING Sunday, January 27 Report submission deadline is Thursday, Jan. 17, 12 pm (no exceptions) The annual meeting will be held following a potluck dinner. All are welcome to bring a dish to pass and stay for the annual meeting following! Sign up sheets to attend the annual meeting and be eligible to vote are located on the round table in the Welcome Area. Questions can be directed to any of the Trustees: Pete Fannin, Brian Knight, Tina Schultz, Jen Reinke, Jackie Baldwin, Kris Zillmer or Kelly Zillmer. Copies of the proposed budget will be available after Jan. 6. Beth Moore Bible Study to Begin Sue Miller will once again be leading a Beth Moore Bible Study Entrusted, the Study of 2nd Timothy. The study is held every other Wednesday morning beginning March 6 from 9-11 a.m. or on Sunday evenings beginning March 10 from 6:30-8:30 p.m., whichever session works best for you. Wednesday study will end May 15 and Sunday will end May 19. Contact Kim Peebles before Feb. 18 if you would like to participate so a book can be ordered for you. Budget at a Glance Budgeted 2018 $126,000 Needed thru November $115,500 Received thru November $104, Needed each week $2, November 4 81 November November 28 November 25 Attendance at a Glance 7 No Record No Record

Newsletter. Alive in the Spirit. St. Peter s Lutheran Church. August 2018

Newsletter. Alive in the Spirit. St. Peter s Lutheran Church. August 2018 AUGUST CALENDAR OF EVENTS Date Time Event August 6 Fresh Hope Group Meeting August 7 Quilters St. Peter s Lutheran Church August 12 Worship August 13 Fresh Hope Group Meeting August 19 Worship with Steve