St.John News. The God Who... E. The Ministry of St. John Lutheran From Pastor Rempfer s Desk...

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1 November 2018 St.John News Proclaiming and Practicing the Love of Christ From Pastor Rempfer s Desk... The God Who... E The Ministry of St. John Lutheran Church 919 N. Columbia Avenue Seward, Nebraska School 877 N. Columbia Avenue Seward, Nebraska Child Development Center 1053 N. Columbia Avenue Seward, Nebraska St. John News is published monthly by St. John Lutheran Church ( ) Newsletter co-editors: Marlene Block Shirley Liesener Newsletter staff: Sara Endorf Madalyn Lobmeyer Jack Swanson Anita Foor Jenny Brinkmeyer Richard Zwick with friends recently, we were invited to go around the table and complete the sentence, The best thing that happened to me today was... ATING SUPPER By voicing our blessings, we are in good company. The Holy Spirit inspired King David to do that very thing in Psalm 103. That s a good exercise because human nature likes to go the other direction. We re pretty good when it comes to complaints and criticisms. By voicing our blessings, we are in good company. The Holy Spirit inspired King David to do that very thing in Psalm 103. King David, how was your day? What s your take on life? Here s his answer: Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits (Psalm 103:1-2). At the end of the day, Bless the Lord! When you look at your life, Forget not all His benefits! And if you need a sentence starter, read on as King David continues Psalm 103. We could describe him as a king overflowing with deepseated thankfulness because he knows The God Who forgives all your iniquity (v.3). Yes, this is King David, guilty of adultery and murder, the same King David whose conscience would give him no peace in Psalm 32. But God took all King David s sins and all the ones that are on our minds and in our lives and put them on the back of His Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ. They are gone. They are forgiven. Bless the Lord!... heals all your diseases (v. 3). Isn t it interesting how often our health becomes the reason for complaining. Miserable cold. Aching back. And yet David says that our health is a key to thankfulness. We could write a book about colds and injuries, minor bumps and major surgeries and how many chapters would say, God healed me! But even when these bodies remain at less than 100 percent, there is the promise that God indeed will heal ALL our diseases. If not now, then He gives us the promise that at the resurrection on the last day, we will experience that perfect healing of a glorified body with no more sickness or pain. He heals ALL your diseases. Bless the Lord!... redeems your life from the pit (v. 4). Biblically speaking in the Old Testament., the pit was a common description for the grave, for death itself. It s our ultimate blessing to know Jesus Christ came to earth and went down into the pit of death and hell and came out victoriously on Easter morning so we can say, Death, where is your victory? Death, where is your sting? Your life is redeemed from the pit. Bless the Lord!... who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's (v.4-5). These words open the window to King David s heart and mind as See Rempfer page 2

2 Godparents 2... more news Rempfer continued from page 1 he ponders the spiritual blessings of a God who pours His grace upon an undeserving King. His sins, though many, have not stopped God from showering him with love and mercy. His faith, though weak, has been refreshed and made strong again by a patient and generous God. Bless the Lord! It sounds like King David would have a hard time choosing a best thing that happened to him as he looked back at his day. He is overwhelmed by a list of spiritual blessings from God s hands. He forgives. He heals. He redeems. He crowns. He satisfies. He renews. All those divine verbs result in David s verb and ours Bless the Lord! The mission of this ministry is aligned to this year s ministry theme and we pray these students grow as Saints Anchored In the Lord. Godparent Ministry is in full swing by Anita Foor HE GODPARENT T MINISTRY of St. John began in September with a barbeque to welcome students, their parents, and the Godparent leaders to a new ministry year. The Godparent ministry works to connect high school youth with adult leaders in the church for the purpose of growing relationships with and in Christ. St. John is blessed by the following individuals leading and serving as Godparent leaders: Freshmen Leaders Lynn Brumm and Brianne Stahlecker Barry and Dane Eitzmann Max and Melanie Wake Sophomore Leaders David and Joanna Coe Kellen and Michelle Meyer Junior Leaders Randy and Kris Chapp/ John and Linda Cahoon Jonathon Moberly and Jennifer Fruend CUNE student leaders Senior Leaders Mark and Ingrid Minchow Ed and Pam Simpson This ministry would not happen without these individuals and their families dedicating themselves to serving Christ in this capacity. We thank them, and we ask the congregation members prayers over them. This year, the leaders will meet weekly with their small group of students, most often in the homes of the leaders. They will study the Word with the students and equip our congregation s youth to walk with Christ and model His grace with others. The mission of this ministry is aligned to this year s ministry theme, and we pray these students grow as Saints Anchored In the Lord. In early 2019, we will begin seeking leaders to serve students in the school year. If you know of someone who has a heart for youth and encouraging them to anchor themselves in Christ, please offer encouragement to that person to consider serving in the role of a Godparent leader. And if you need some encouragement, we can provide that to you, too! May our Father bless this ministry and work in the hearts and minds of the youth members of St. John to allow them to anchor themselves to Him and to grow as leaders within our church. One of the sophomore godparent groups painted and installed the platform/ stage for the outside cross. Pictured: Bailey Suchy, Nathan Miller, Dr. David Coe, Tyler Calway, Haile Deeble. Not pictured: JJ Metschke, Heather Granfors

3 more news... 3 From temporary to permanent by Jenny Brinkmeyer F OR THE PAST YEAR, Jan Bruick has been serving in an interim position as the Servant Event Coordinator (SEC) for Alaska Mission for Christ. She spent her time traveling across the lower 48 states to fundraise and in Alaska, where she had an apartment for two months. It was a faith strengthening year. God figured it all out, without my hands muddling in it at all, says Bruick. As the SEC, Jan works to recruit, orient, train, and deploy servant event teams across Alaska. Previously, this position was always held by a resident of Alaska. The time that Jan spent as the interim SEC was actually a test to see if she could hold Trivia Night 2019 T HE 9TH ANNUAL PTL Trivia Night is coming to the Ag Pavillion on Friday, January 18, Start recruiting your team for Seward s most fun night of the year. Doors open at 6 p.m. and trivia starts at 7:15 p.m. Your team writes answers to questions in ten themed rounds, such as sports, movies, history, Bible or food. Between rounds, bid at the silent auction, the position permanently and if the AMC board was comfortable giving the job to an outsider. At their meeting in May they discussed Jan s experience, knowledge and the work she has done in this position. It was those qualities that moved the board to vote to offer the position to Jan fulltime, an offer she couldn t refuse. Jan is very excited to embrace this job and the mission to facilitate a bold witness to Jesus Christ in every community in Alaska as defined in the AMC mission statement. As with many missionary positions, Jan will be responsible for fundraising for her own salary and expenses. One of those visit the cash bar or play Dead or Alive. Bring favorite snacks for your table. Dress up your team and table to win the spirit award. The team with the most correct trivia answers wins $400; second place wins $200. All proceeds go to the PTL to support projects at St. John Lutheran School. Cost is $200 per table of eight players, and must be paid in advance. Trivia Night Silent Auction Donations S PART of the trivia night A festivities, we will be hosting a silent auction. Please consider donating new items of value, experiences such as game tickets or condo usage, or valuable antiques for us to auction. All profits from the auction items go directly to the St. John PTL for use in supporting our school, teachers, and students. If you have an expenses will be an apartment in Anchorage for the summer months, which she hopes to start looking for in January. This job will have her traveling to Alaska and throughout the lower 48 to raise the needed funds, as well as raising up new teams of volunteers. Jan is feeling a great deal of support from her family as she steps into this role on a fulltime basis. She is also very appreciative of the support that she continues to receive from her St. John family. She would like to say thank you to the mission committee and all the members who have chosen to support her financially. Registration begins November 1 and closes January 14. You may register your team of eight players at stjohntrivia@gmail.com or call Michelle Meyer at Also, contact Michelle to be a corporate or memorial sponsor for a team or trivia round. item to donate, or questions, please contact Cari Berner at or us at stjohntrivia@gmail.com. Alaska a Trivia Night faith strengthening year. God figured it all out, without my hands muddling in it at all. Jan Bruick

4 Educational Seminar Stephen Ministry 4... more news Stephen Ministry says Thank you RAISE GOD, from whom all P blessings flow. The 35 Stephen Ministers and Leaders thank the St. John congregation for its continued support of caring ministry. These workers are grateful for the prayers and financial resources provided by the church. Stephen Ministers give generously of their time in caring for others, a response to the Lord s gift of salvation and eternal life through Jesus Christ. Help beautify our sanctuary for Christmas P OINSETTIAS AND WREATHS to beautify our sanctuary for Christmas and Epiphany can now be ordered. You will find order blanks in the November monthly newsletter, in the weekly bulletins and also online. Poinsettias are $19.00 each with foil around them. Wreaths are $ Payment is in advance by cash or a check made payable to St. John, and dropped off in the church office, or placed in Rachel Holte s mailbox in the lower hallway. Orders can also be mailed to the church. Poinsettia orders will be from Merle s Flower Shop and Merle s Garden Center. The wreaths will be purchased from Windmill Pines. Your poinsettias and wreaths can be in honor of or in memory of loved ones, or in thankfulness, therefore, please also complete that portion of the form. Additional forms are available in both narthexes or church office. Deadline for ordering is noon on Monday, December 3. A will don t leave without one! M ORE THAN 80 ADULTS from three churches attended the Will Seminar on August 26, presented by the St. John Stewardship Board, with partial funding by Thrivent Financial. Presenting timely information about having or not having a will and answering questions was attorney Tim Moll s goal. The Church is a gifted community of believers whose everyday lives have been transformed by the Holy Spirit to accomplish God s purposes. Wholelife stewardship is managing what God has given us to serve our neighbor in our vocations in home, church, and society. As our membership seeks to become better stewards of all God s blessings, planning for the future needs of family is certainly a critical piece of that stewardship. Please look for future Stewardship seminars on educational topics such as Funeral Planning, Impact of Tax Law on Retirement, and Charitable Gift Planning. Please feel free to make other suggestions to any Stewardship Board member. Jeanette Niemann, Board of Stewardship Coming to St. John... Georgia Pecans UST IN TIME for holiday J baking or gift-giving, the 2019 Alaska Mission Team will be selling fresh Georgia Pecans (halves, pieces, chocolate covered, turtles, and cinnamon). The halves & pieces come in 16 oz. bags and are $11/bag. The chocolate covered (dark or milk chocolate) come in 12 oz. bags and are $10/bag. The turtles and cinnamon come in 10 oz. bags and are $10/bag. The Mission Team will be selling the pecans before and/ or after the weekend worship services during November while supplies last. Questions? Contact Pam Peters at or pkp5477@yahoo.com

5 more news... 5 Welcome, DCE Practicum students Tim Rippstein, Director of Christian Education W ELCOME to our new DCE Practicum students from Concordia! Typically, 4 th - year senior DCE students work Rachel Norem I was born in Missouri and moved around until we settled in Kansas when I was four years old. I come from a family of two parents, an older brother, a twin sister, and a younger sister. My hobbies include crochet, embroidery, Bible journaling, and learning guitar and ukulele. This past summer I had my first camp David Schrampfer Hello! I am from Appleton, Wisconsin. I am in the DCE program at Concordia, where I also study theology and psychology. I have a wonderful in a local congregation to gain more practical experience before going out on their year-long DCE internships. We are happy experience ever while I worked as a camp counselor at Camp Luther in Schuyler, Nebraska. I am a junior at Concordia, studying elementary education and DCE ministry. I have been involved in the church since I joined in fifth grade. I look forward to experiencing God s ministry with you all for the next year. fiancé, Emma Brand, and a passion for music, people, the Green Bay Packers, and coffee. I love meeting new people and looking for new ways to really get to know others. Various forms of outreach and working with middle-schoolers are some of my favorite aspects of ministry. I look forward to all the opportunities, relationships, and learning experiences to be had through my practicum experience! to work with Rachel Norem and David Schrampfer as they join our ministry family this year. I was inspired to DCE ministry by my own DCE back home, and a passion for reaching out and sharing the Gospel with others. I am greatly looking forward to working with youth and college age students in the church, in addition to developing various programs and ministry for outreach and evangelism. I am looking forward to gaining some real church experience at St. John and connecting with the people and families who call this their church home!" Director of Christian Education program Breakfast in Bethlehem Saturday, December 8, 8:30 a.m. W HY NOT START this great morning of activities with an energizing breakfast of egg casserole, homemade bread or rolls, and fruits! Volunteers will be asked to bring the various food items and also to help with the event. Invite and bring your neighbors and friends, where we will also be proclaiming and practicing the love of Jesus. Everyone is welcome to attend. Activities for the children begin at 9 a.m. Watch for our table in the narthex on Sundays beginning in November. Sponsored by the Outreach Committee

6 St. John Lutheran School and Child Development Center 6... more news school and CDC theme: Saints Anchored In the Lord CTOBER 16 MARKED the O end of the 2018 season for our St. John Fox volleyball team. Coach Rachel Miller led 20 girls in grades 6-8 in a quest for team and personal successes. The team was also supported by Kelsey Higgins and Dakota Grummer, Concordia students who served as assistant coaches. Coach Miller started the season sharing her two expectations of players that they communicate with one another and that they do their very best. Coach Miller Fox volleyball team ends season with success by Anita Foor says, Each player has improved. The coaches worked daily in practices and games to help the players understand that making mistakes is okay when they also understand that learning occurs when we challenge ourselves and correct mistakes. One practice highlight was when the Concordia volleyball team talked with the Fox volleyball team about respect and sportsmanship and then joined the Foxes for part of their practice. We appreciate our partnership with Concordia University for many reasons, and this is one of them. Thanks for being role models! The team was especially excited to have placed 2 nd in the St. Paul Utica tournament and 5 th in the Trinity Fremont tournament. They also won the St. Joseph York invite on October 9. Thanks to our coaches and to the players who played hard, worked hard, and represented our school! St. John students participate in Plum Creek Children s Literacy Festival by Anita Foor HE FESTIVAL IS a highly T anticipated event each year by our students and teachers. We re fortunate to have this award-winning event happening through our partner in ministry, Concordia University. Its purpose since its founding in 1996 has been seeking and encouraging a love of reading, writing and books by bringing nationally renowned authors and illustrators to Nebraska. St. John students heard from two authors on October 4 in the church sanctuary. One author was Kelly DiPucchio, a New York Times bestselling author of more than 20 books for children. The second individual was Ryan Higgins, an author and illustrator. Students were excited to see him use the features of three different animals to create a whole new creature through illustration. Coming up soon at St. John School November 6 Praying Parents November No school Thanksgiving Break December 16 Children-led Christmas 5:00 p.m.

7 more news... 7 Thankfulness... by Lisa Aring, Director of Child Development Center N OVEMBER IS THE MONTH that many choose to focus on thankfulness. That is a good thing. However, how many of those things actually make it into prayers of thanksgiving to God? Just listing our blessings is not really giving thanks to God. It is different to intentionally thank God for each item. Or are we like the toddler who knows the ritual of prayer, but doesn t embrace the meaning when he yells, Pray! Pray! because he knows that food comes after the prayer? We have so many blessings given by God, that we don t even recognize them at times. As a new member at St. John, I see so many blessings here. I see a church that supports ministry, services with full church pews, great music, wonderful volunteers, a staff focused on keeping God in the forefront of Did you know...? LLI TROESTER IS NEW A to the CDC staff. She began September 4, as a toddler teacher. She is not really new to St. John, as she taught here before the birth of their youngest daughter. She and her minds, and the Word preached in ways that reach the people sitting in the pews. In the school, I see hardworking staff members and many children (God s little lambs.) In this time of accreditation, the staff is working even more hours to write about the many blessings in our church, the day school and the Child Development Center. (In spite of the fact that the accreditation work is timeconsuming it is a blessing to me, because I am learning very quickly all aspects of the St. John ministry.) As I look at the Child Development Center, we are blessed with a great facility and with staff that cares about the children, the families, and their education. They love their jobs and want to make things better. We are blessed to have Concordia University across the husband Joe and daughters Amy and Molly, are members of St. John. She has more than seven years of experience in working with young children. Alli brings energy, organization, and communication skills to the St. street to add to our church services and to the educational programs in our ministries. There is a huge need for trained church workers in our congregations. We are blessed to be part of that training! As we enter the Thanksgiving season, let s all make lists of the things that we are thankful for AND intentionally pray a prayer of thanks to God for each one. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him (Colossians 3:17). John CDC staff. She loves working with the toddlers and watching them discover new things especially because everything is new to them. God has blessed us with Alli! We have so many blessings given by God, that we don t even recognize them at times. As a new member at St. John, I see so many blessings here. Baptisms September 16, 2018, Remi Marie Luebbe, daughter of Cody and Stephanie (Holland) Luebbe September 22, 2018, Oakley Rae Moore, daughter of Nate and Taylor (Aegerter) Moore Deaths, funerals/memorial services, committals None Marriages September 9, 2018, Travis James Pollak and Gretchen Kathleen Woebbecke (non-members) Adult confirmation Jun David Liu, 320 Lincoln St., Apt. 5, Seward, Nebr Transfers in (M/M) Ronald & Elizabeth Lisa Aring (M/M) Tim Preuss & Debbie Lang- Preuss and Matthew and Abby Transfers out None Official Acts

8 8... more news Inside this issue... Message from Pastor Rempfer Godparent program Jan Bruick s Alaska ministry Trivia Night Stephen Ministry Christmas poinsettias and wreaths Wills seminar Georgia pecans DCE Practicum students Breakfast in Bethlehem School news CDC news Official acts Deadline for December/January newsletter is November 5, 5 p.m. stjohnseward@yahoo.com St. John Staff... Scott Bruick, Senior Pastor scott.bruick@stjohnseward.org Amber Fiala, Principal St. John School amber.fiala@stjohnseward.org Paul Soulek, Director of Parish and School Music paul.soulek@stjohnseward.org David Rempfer, Pastor for Visitation and Pastoral Care david.rempfer@stjohnseward.org Lisa Aring, Director of Child Development Center lisa.aring@stjohnseward.org Juanita Ebert, Deaconess juanita.ebert@stjohnseward.org Tim Rippstein, Director of Christian Education tim.rippstein@stjohnseward.org Cathy Brase, Business Manager cathy.brase@stjohnseward.org Nick Bloebaum, Facilities Manager nick.bloebaum@stjohnseward.org St. John News St John Lutheran Church 919 North Columbia Seward, Nebraska Non-profit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Permit No. 11 Seward, NE Return service requested