314 FOURTH AVE NE US POSTAGE WASECA, MN PERMIT NO (Address Service Requested) Jesus Loves

Transcription

1 ST. PAUL LUTHERAN CHURCH NON-PROFIT ORG. 314 FOURTH AVE NE US POSTAGE WASECA, MN PERMIT NO (Address Service Requested) Jesus Loves ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// 8 Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. 10 Then the angel said to them, Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. 11 For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger. 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: 14 Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men! Luke 2:8-14 ST. PAUL LUTHERAN CHURCH - (MISSOURI SYNOD) 314 Fourth Avenue Northeast Waseca, Minnesota Phone: stpaulwa@hickorytech.net Church Office Hours: 8:00 a.m. 12:00 p.m. (Monday Friday) Website: SUNDAY MORNINGS: Worship Service: 9:00 a.m. (Broadcast on KOWZ, 1170 AM/106.3 FM) Fellowship/Coffee: 10:00 a.m. 10:15 a.m. Sunday School: 10:15 a.m. 11:15 a.m. Adult Bible Study: 10:30 a.m. 11:15 a.m. Rev. David H. Baumgarn Cell: (507) Home: (507) revstpaul@hickorytech.net

2 Offer to God thanksgiving, and pay your vows to the Most High Psalm 50:14 In these latter days of November, we remember that term thanksgiving, and I think we might, at times, think just to some of the festivities, and family traditions that we have enjoyed during the national holiday that our country celebrates each year, rather than remembering WITH JOY, the many wonderful times, and ways, that the Lord has been with us, and blessed us, over the past year. He s not after just some stuff to be given unto Him. Please read Psalm 50. (..Don t think you re going to later, please get out your Bible and do it now ). See, how just before verse 14, He says how He s not really interested in all that stuff of the offerings and sacrifices (vs. 8-9). He owns everything anyway (vs ). What does He really want? He wants YOU! He wants that experience with you! Where you come, and meet Him at His house! Where He can share in the joy, and the experience of being with His beloved child! Mrs. Marian Rosenau gave me an excellent article by Mary Hunt, entitled Lessons from a 2-year-old. And she makes some great observations, that she learned from caring for her two year old grandson. They had a great time, being together, and discovering some of the interesting, amazing everyday things, together. She said she learned I don t have to own things to enjoy them. And often there s greater value in doing things together than in owning things. Won t you come, and walk awhile hand-in-hand with Your Lord, this next week. I look forward to the time that I will have, when my own kids come home, so that we can spend some time together. And I m sure our Heavenly Father, is looking forward to the same thing, with you. Come meet Him here, at your spiritual home, this Thanksgiving. And remember the many ways that He has been with You. The next verse says, Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me. He has been with us, and helped us, so often, in the past. That s one of the good things about prayer journaling, because we get a chance to look back at the many ways, that the Lord HAS answered our prayers, and gotten us out of trouble! We don t want to forget God (vs. 22), as He warns against, in verses 16 through 22. We want to remember His deliverance - in the ways He has gotten us through, and especially with the sending of His Son, Jesus, for our ultimate and final deliverance. He says at the end of Psalm 50, Whoever offers praise glorifies Me; (vs. 23). Won t you, and yours, come and personally offer that praise, and thanks, with your own mouth, this Thanksgiving, and as we continue into December, when we remember His coming down for us, in the flesh. It is through the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus, that we can look forward to the joys of heaven, and getting to walk hand-in-hand with our loving heavenly Father, enjoying many of the wonders He seeks to show, and share with us there! Until that time, when we are called home, won t you come and spend some time, walking here, with your Heavenly Father. You both with be glad you did! Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. For the LORD is good; and His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations Psalm 100:4-5. In Christ s name, and for the building of His kingdom,

3 December Bible Readings As we begin another Christian Church Year, and as we approach the end of another calendar year, we come to the conclusion of our yearly Bible reading schedule and conclude with the reading of the book of Revelation. There we see portrayed the birth of Christ and His conflict with Satan. (Revelation 12) We also read of Christ's Incarnation in John 1. Paul also writes about the "great...mystery" of the incarnation of Jesus Christ (I Timothy 3:16) and that in the Christ Child "dwells the fullness of the Godhead bodily." (Colossians 2:9) Again we see how the truths of Christmas fill the whole Bible from Genesis to Revelation. The Old Testament prophesied about the Messiah Who would come. The New Testament records the fact that the Messiah came "in the fullness of time" to save us from our sins that we might be God's adopted sons and daughters in faith. (Galatians 4:4-5) May the righteousness of the Holy Christ Child fill your Christmas and the New Year with endless Joy! DECEMBER: 1. Romans 5,6,7,8 2. Romans 9,10,11,12 3. Romans 13,14,15,16 4. Ephesians 1,2,3,4 5. Ephesians 5,6; Psalm 119: Philippians 1,2,3,4 7. Colossians 1,2,3,4 8. I Timothy 1,2,3,4 9. I Timothy 5,6; Titus 1,2,3 10. II Timothy 1,2,3,4 11. Philemon; Hebrews 1,2,3,4 12. Hebrews 5,6,7,8 13. Hebrews 9,10, Hebrews 12,13; Jude 15. James 1,2,3,4,5 16. I Peter 1,2,3,4,5 17. II Peter 1,2,3; John John 2,3,4 19. John 5,6 20. John 7,8 21. John 9,10, John 12,13, John 15,16,17, John 19,20, I John 1,2,3,4,5 26. Psalm 117; 119:81-176; II John; III John 27. Revelation 1,2,3,4 28. Revelation 5,6,7,8,9 29. Revelation 10,11,12,13, Revelation 15,16,17, Revelation 19,20,21,22

4 ACOLYTE SCHEDULE Date Primary Secondary December 3 Alexus Tiegs Levi Flom December 6 (6PM) Amalia Paulson Nathaniel Baumgarn December 10 Juliana Ross Austin Brase December 13 (6PM) Paige Swenson Chloe Schumacher December 17 Gabriel LaCroix Hannah LaCroix December 20 (6PM) Chloe Schumacher December 24 (9AM) Austin Brase December 24 (6PM) Nathaniel Baumgarn December 25 (9AM) Hannah LaCroix Alexus Tiegs Paige Swenson Juliana Ross Gabriel LaCroix December 31 Alexus Tiegs Austin Brase Please note: You must find a replacement if you cannot acolyte at the service assigned to you. Please contact the church office when you have changed with another acolyte. Please arrive to the church 20 minutes before the service begins, as the candles are to be lit 10 minutes before the service. A reminder to contact the Pastor or Church Office when you are hospitalized, so that a Pastoral visit can be arranged. Likewise, please notify the church office when you have returned home from the hospital. Thank you! St. Paul Lutheran Church Waseca is now on Facebook! In Facebook, search Be sure to Like the page, so you can begin to receive updates! The 29ers will be meeting on Wednesday, December 6 th at 12:00 p.m. for potluck. Hostess is Judie Waters.

5 The new church website is now available! This new website contains service information and contact information, weekly bulletins with corresponding worship service recordings, monthly newsletters, monthly church calendar, and spiritual growth links. Please make sure to check it out! FUNDRAISING EVENTS: The Youth Mission Trip group will be having a Hamburger/Fish sandwich feed at the Waseca American Legion on Friday, December 22, 2017 from 5:00 p.m. 7:00 p.m. Cost is $7.00 per person and includes sandwich, salad, tator tots, cookie. Water and Pop will be available for additional purchase. The Youth Mission Trip group will be accepting donations to complete your yard work and/or household projects. Please contact Mark Pehrson at (507) to schedule a date. Like to sing Christmas hymns? Be sure to mark your calendar now, for the 3 rd annual Christmas Hymnfest at Christ the King, Lutheran Church on Sunday afternoon, Dec 10 th at 2:00 PM. They, once more, graciously invited us to join with them, in singing some of the beloved Christmas songs, and listening to some beautiful choral pieces. Our choir is working on an impressive selection to sing there, but it s not just for choirs! Please add your own voice, as we enjoy singing some of the festive music of the season, singing songs of praise to the King of kings, Immanuel, God with us Jesus our Lord!

6 Thank you! A big and sincere Thank you from Pastor Baumgarn, and his family, and Pastor Zimmer, and his family, unto all who shared some of their love for us, on Pastor s Appreciation Day! It was a great, and humbling day. Thanks be to God! Still time to complete pledges: Many of our family, here at St. Paul, made pledges to the Lord, for their giving this year. You will be able to see that, included with your third quarter giving statements. There may have been some unexpected events. If things have gotten tougher, the Lord knows, and understands; but if you have been blessed by Him (in some unexpected ways), why not say Thanks in an additional gift to Him! Cotta Guild November 2017 The meeting got underway at 7 p.m. with Cindy Wood leading devotions based on the ten lepers entitled, Return To Give Thanks. The minutes from October and treasurer s report were read and approved. A thank you to Barb Denn s circle for serving the last funeral (Harvey Mittelsteadt). Please remember to reveal yourself to your secret sisters and brothers for year The bazaar worksheet and cookie sheet were circulated. We still need several people to fill these positions. We will be frosting cookies on Wednesday, November 29 th at 1 p.m. We will pack cookies on Friday, December 1 st at 1 p.m. We will need ten (10) pies from each circle; five (5) fruit and five (5) soft. Please try and use 9 pies, as we have a new cutter for the pies. Department chairperson must bring change and bags for their department. A motion was made, seconded, and carried to give money to the quilters for soap. A motion was made to give money for postage on Samaritan Purse boxes. A second was made and carried. We have vacancies for flower committee or altar committee for the months of January, March, August, September and October. On Sunday, December 3 rd at 1:30 p.m., we will be hosting district ladies to come and see Linda Seifert s presentation on the National Convention. Bev Schroeder s circle was assigned the chancel trees. Linda Seifert s circle was assigned election nominations. Kathy Flogstad will be collecting money for Christmas altar poinsettias. Barb Denn gave the fall rally report. Judie Water s circle will serve next. We will meet at 1 p.m. on December 14 th to go caroling at Lakeshore Inn. The meeting was adjourned and lunch was served by Barb Denn s circle. Respectfully submitted, --Kathy Flogstad, Secretary Cotta Guild will meet on Thursday, December 14, at 1:00 PM. (Notice the time change to an afternoon meeting during the winter months.) We will be caroling at Lakeshore Inn. When we return from there, Pastor Baumgarn will have devotion. At our business meeting, we will vote on the disbursement of our Christmas bazaar funds, which support a variety of missions and charities. Bev Schroeder's circle will serve lunch. All women are welcome to join us.

7 Thank you to all veterans, especially the following: (If your name is not listed, please call the church office so that we can add you for future recognition.) Richard Arnold, Caleb Baumgarn, Craig Berberich, Dennis Bickell, Blaine Brooks, Iver Buker, Harold Christianson, Bernard Cole, Jordan Dahlhoff, John Deling, Allen Eichhorst, Scharol Ewest, Edgar Felske, Michael Frank, Loren Frink, Earl Guse, Chad Hammer, Ben Hartill, Wayne Hursh, Gerald Kuhn, Robert Kuschel, James Larsen, Jacob Lemmen, Aaron Lenz, Kenneth Lenz, Sarah Lenz, Marvin Maass, James Madson, Mark Manthe, Steve Marquardt, Gary Paulson, Mark Pehrson, Troy Pehrson, Milan Prechel, David Reinsbach, Robert Roemhildt, James Ross, Thomas Ross, Kylie Schram, Gerald Schroeder, Glen Schultz, Gary Seifert, Brett Waters, Ronald Wood, Trevor Worke, and Todd Zimmerman. Advent Supper Schedule 4:30 p.m. 6:00 p.m. Free will offering. Wednesday, December 6: (sponsored by Youth Mission Group) Hot beef commercials, dessert Wednesday, December 13: (sponsored by Youth Group) Tacos Wednesday, December 20: (sponsored by Youth Mission Group) Chili, cheeseburger soup, chicken soup, bun, dessert Operation Christmas Child Update Sunday School students, families and volunteers packed 119 shoeboxes from St. Paul! Due to the generosity of families, and the Cotta Guild, we were able to pack and ship 47 more boxes than last year. Thank you to everyone who donated items, helped pack, and served lunch on packing day. Thank you also to those who gave toward the shipping cost ($9 per box; $1,071 total). What a blessing to see God working mightily through this congregation! The shoeboxes will share Jesus with kids across the world this Christmas. We purchased again this year one shipping label through the Shoebox website for tracking. The Sunday School students will share the destination of that shoebox during Fellowship, sometime in January. Over 638 shoeboxes were collected at St. Paul Lutheran Church, from all around the Waseca area. Thank you to Aimee Paulson and the many volunteers who greeted individuals and other churches who brought their shoeboxes to St. Paul. The shoeboxes were loaded into cartons and onto a trailer that was driven to Mankato. From Mankato, many more cartons will all go to a warehouse in Minneapolis for a final customs check before shipping out from MSP airport. Now, we pray. We pray for the workers delivering the boxes. We pray for the children receiving the boxes. We pray the Holy Spirit uses these boxes in amazing ways to share the salvation found only in Jesus!

8 Sunday School Thank you for remembering our Sunday School in your prayers. This month, please pray for the children in the 2 nd /3 rd /4 th Grade class, that the Holy Spirit may move in their hearts to create a saving faith in Jesus, their Savior. 2 nd Grade: Wyatt Arndt, Makayla Clark, Kalli Cone, Zoey Gibson, Michael Goodlander, Carson Goodrich, Peyton Ross 3 rd Grade: Serena Baumgarn, Dawson Goodlander, Nathan Hager, Parker Pitts, Marcello Rivera, Josephine Ross, Troy Ryan, Blake Schroeder 4 th Grade: Samuel Baumgarn, Carley Chance, Carson Cromer, Draedyn Grams, Derek Hammer, Ayla Manthe, Traehvo Miller-Nelson, Wyatt Schroeder, Joey Schumacher Junior Choir We are taking a break to focus on singing with the entire Sunday School for the Christmas Worship on Sunday, December 24 at 9am. Junior Choir (Grades 3-8) will resume rehearsals in January on Sunday mornings, right after Sunday School from 11:15-11:30. Children s Christmas Worship Service: December 24 th at 9:00 am The Sunday School students in Pre-K through 8th Grade are practicing to lead the Children s Christmas Worship Service on Sunday morning, December 24 th at 9:00am. The service will be led by the children and Pastor Baumgarn. Youth in grades 3-8 will have individual speaking parts. Younger children will be singing In a Little Stable. Children may also be part of the Live Nativity. Saturday, Dec 9 Rehearsal at 9-10am in the Sanctuary Saturday, Dec 16 Rehearsal at 9-10am in the Sanctuary Sunday, Dec 24 Children s Christmas Worship at 9:00am (Please have your child(ren) in their classroom(s) by 8:40am. Birthday cake for the Baby Jesus will be served in the Parish Hall, immediately following the worship service. No Sunday School/Adult Bible Study today.) Parents Please let Jen LaCroix, Aimee Paulson, or Kelli Lenz know if your child(ren) will be participating, so we can assign parts and places to stand/sit. Thank you! Play Pre-Service Music Sunday School students and high school youth are invited to play a worshipful Christmas recital piece at the beginning of the Children s Christmas service on December 24 th. Please contact Kelli Lenz if you wish to participate.

9 As the congregational representative for a new Adult/Family Retreat Center at Camp Omega, I wanted to give you an update of where Camp Omega is on their funding. They are at $1,920,722 money raised in cash received and pledges. Their goal is $3.3 million. They have negotiated on 10 acres of property over the last several years. A price has been reached and closing will take place soon. The property is located behind the dining hall and would allow the retreat center to be built level ground. Bob LaCroix and the board (along with other significant people to this effort) have been working with a new architect firm and general contractor to re-address the existing design and location. Once a final design is in place, they hope they can start moving forward to make this a reality. Camp Omega is still in need of a little over one million dollars to accomplish the new Adult/Family Retreat Center. Camp Omega is asking me to encourage those that have made pledges over the last three years, to consider continuing their pledge for another year or two. If you have made accommodations in your budget for your current pledge and can maintain that going forward, that would be fantastic. You could just notify Camp Omega or myself that you are going to continue your pledge over the next year, or maybe two (be sure it s earmarked for the campaign). If you can t or choose not to continue your pledge, they totally understand. Camp Omega is so grateful for ALL the support so generously given. In 2015, the St. Paul Church Council approved the campaign and is in total support of this effort. They set a congregational goal of $30,000 over a three year period. To-date, our congregation has pledged or given $23,318. Our three year pledge is soon approaching and we are at a shortfall of $6,682. By joining us in supporting this opportunity, it will make a difference in people s lives for generations to come, with the life giving spirit of Jesus. We ask you to earmark your envelope for Camp Omega Capital Campaign, attention Kathy Flogstad, and drop it in the offering plate (checks should be made payable to Camp Omega). We pray God will open your hearts and minds as he guides you in your response to this important effort. God s blessings, Kathy Flogstad

10