July October & August Good Shepherd Lutheran School 33 rd Annual Jog-A-Thon. The ParishScope

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1 The ParishScope St. John s Lutheran Church Newsletter Sand Prairie Green Valley, IL July October & August Life Chain Good Shepherd Lutheran School 33 rd Annual Jog-A-Thon Sunday, October 6 Dinner served 11:00am--3:00pm Butterfly Pork Chop Dinner- $7.00 Chicken Breast Dinner- $7.00 Bratwurst Dinner-$6.00 Hot Dog Dinner- $4.50 Dinners are served with homemade applesauce, baked beans, chips, dessert and a drink. Items may be purchased separately. There will be a Jump House for kids and come see Mr. Kilgus get in the dunk tank! Jogging will begin at 1:00pm Please come out and join us for food, fun and fellowship! Bring your family and lawn chairs to watch the jogging. Pledge sheets will be available at the Scrip table or at Good Shepherd Lutheran School. Lutheran Marriage Encounter is currently taking reservations for the October 11-13, 2013 weekend in Peoria. You can register by going to GodLovesMarriage.org or by contacting Dan & Charlotte Ricks at dcrlme1094@comcast.net or by calling them at (309) Every couple deserves a weekend! On Sunday, October 6, Peoria Area Lutherans for Life will again stand in the Life Chain that stretches from the abortion clinic on North University south to Metro Center. We will gather at Culver s on North University from 2:30-3:30 pm and quietly stand along the street in front of the Metro Center, holding the signs provided by Central Illinois Right to Life. This will be the 25 th annual observance of the Life Chain, which occurs on the same day at over 1400 other locations across our country and Canada. SOCIAL SECURITY : Strategize to Maximize Did you know that there are hundreds of options associated with your Social Security retirement benefits? When should I apply? How much will I be taxed? Join us for a complimentary presentation by Thrivent reps (Jim Yocum & Baird Woolsey) to explore how to sort through the choices. Help ensure the decisions you make are ones you can live with for the rest of your life. Tues., Oct pm at the church. Space is limited. Contact Jim Yocum at or jim.yocum@thrivent.com to RSVP by Oct. 11. Refreshments will be served.

2 Happy Birthday to our members 75 & older: October 7 - Bill Reaves October 10 - Harold Toepke Mary Marion October 20 - Joey Baldwin October 26 - Anita Friedrich October 27 - Virginia Hilst Parents - Please continue to look for overdue movies and books. We have over 30 dvds that are past due and over 20 books. Anyone wanting to offer their time to help work in the library on Sunday mornings would be appreciated. You would only need to work one Sunday per month from 9 am to 10:40 am. New in the Library: Every Which Way to Pray by Joyce Meyer Haley and Harley Hippo find out that prayer can be done anywhere, anytime, and in many ways. Free Piano - Don Herman has an upright piano to give to a good home. If interested, please call AV Volunteers Needed - Our church is in need of more people to be involved in running our video cameras, sound board, and PowerPoint slides. Training provided. Please contact Troy Thomas at if you are interested in this service to the Lord at our church. Heart in the Pocket by Laurence Bourguignon and Valerie d Heur This is a tale about growing up and the strong bond between mother and child. The Kids Ten Commandments This 3-disc set features animated stories teaching God s life-giving laws. Kids will learn biblical values and the truth about God s love for everyone. Horton Hears a Who! The Doctor Seuss classic that proves a person s a person no matter how small. This comes with Everyone s Hero, an animated adventure directed and inspired by Christopher Reeves. Berenstain Bears movie - Springtime Surprises : Easter Surprise, Play Ball, Save the Bees, and And the Truth.

3 Epiphany will meet on Oct.3 at 1:30pm. DCE Bill Krueger will do our program. Our hostesses are Lottie Munter and Sharon Larimore. Don't forget to bring items for "Harvest of our Blessings" Food drive. Sunday School Perfect Attendance - August Pre-K J.J. Proehl Joe Proehl 2 nd grade Hannah Cantrall Joshua Holloway Food Pantry collection for the month of October will be Harvest Bounty. The Epiphany Society is heading up this drive. Please give out of the abundance God has given you! High School Cody Catton Anna Friedrich Luke Friedrich BIBLE CLASSES: Pat Hanley is leading a class in the parish hall entitled In Walks Jesus, based on selected verses from the Gospel of St. John. Ryan Fairchild is leading a class for adults on the video series Veggie Tales in the Memorial room. Pastor Kevin and Ward Sirotak are teaching a church membership class in the chapel. All 3 classes meet from 9:30-10:30 a.m. on Sundays. Please join us! CONFIRMATION SERVICE PROJECTS Each confirmand (grades 6-8) is asked to do 3 service projects selected by the staff, plus one of their own choosing this coming year. By serving others, a student can demonstrate the reality and power of Christ s influence in his/her life. Following are some of the projects they will be participating in: restocking the busy bags, helping on workday for our elderly members, assisting with Ewe s Treasure s change-over, helping in the Midwest Food Bank, staffing the 10:45 nursery on Sunday mornings, wrapping and delivering Christmas presents for the Angel Tree program, and assisting with devotions at Mardell Manor and Autumn Accolade. Please encourage and thank them as you have opportunity. HALLOWEEN EXPERIENCE Members of the Adult Christian Fellowship Club and anyone wanting to join in the Halloween Experience on Washington Street hosted by the Klockengas and the Mickleys are invited to Lou and Bonnie Klockengas at 701 Washington Street in Pekin. Please bring bagged candy and arrive around 5 p.m. on Thursday, October 31 st for a grab it when we can supper and trick-or-treating. Costumes are optional. Any questions, please call Bonnie or Lou at or

4 ANGEL TREE is a ministry in which members of our congregation have an opportunity to purchase gifts for children who have a parent in prison. A Christmas tree will be set up in the parish hall later this month. Names of children placed on Angel cutouts may be taken from the tree on Sunday mornings. Each child receives two gifts; one for clothes and one for toys ( each worth around $20), or a monetary gift may be given by an individual, family, or organization. Each child also receives a Nativity book. Last year 34 children s Christmas was made happier due to the generosity of members of our congregation. If you have any questions, please contact Cheri Reagan, coordinator ( or Bill Krueger. WEDNESDAY MORNING BIBLE CLASS meets each week at 11:00 a.m. in the memorial room for one hour. Inquiring Heroes of the Faith, the Magi, Nicodemus, the Canaanite woman, and the Ethiopian eunuch, will be studied this month. Please join us for this one hour weekly study. HALLOWEEN TRACTS will be given to all adults to give to trick-or-treaters. The Evangelism committee will make these available the latter part of this month. RECYCLING PROJECTS: There are many items from which our church, school, and missions can benefit if they are saved for recycling. Locations around the church have containers for various items such as: cancelled stamps, religious materials of any kind, Campbell soup labels, unused eye glasses and cases, newspapers, and aluminum cans. Attention parents of college students! Do you have a student attending these universities? Send their name to: ISU Normal, contact Pastor Bill Jensen, wittenberglcms@gmail.com. U of I Champaign, contact Pastor Rick Milas at rmilas@illinois.edu Eastern IL, contact Greg Witto at gpwitto@eiu.edu Western IL, contact Pastor Michael Burdick lutheran@macomb.com LCMS APP NOW AVAILABLE - Need to: Find a Lutheran (LCMS) church while on the road? Read a daily devotional resource? Listen to KFUO radio? Support missions around the world? This free app can found by searching LCMS on the Apple or Android app stores or visitwww.lcms.org/resources/mobileapps.

5 LWML Fall Retreat Pastor Kevin Parviz is an LCMS pastor with a Jewish congregation a Messianic Jewish congregation. He will be the presenter at the LWML retreat October at Camp CILCA. The meanings of the Seder meal, Examples of a Jewish Community Church, and other things from a Hebrew perspective will be explored. All women are welcome. Cost is $55 before Oct. 10, $65 after, and $50 for Saturday only. More info in the Summer Clarion at You can also contact Christie Martis, Sharon Larimore, or Sheila Lutz for more information. Market Day- Please visit market day. com to place an order online by Oct. 16 or return the form to school by Oct 11th. Pick up will be Oct 21 st from 6:00-7:00 PM. Questions: Contact Trina or Stephanie Thank you for your support. Grace Unplugged is a new movie that will play on Friday, October 4 th at the Grand Prairie 18 in Peoria. Greg Smalley of Focus on the Family calls it, A moving and meaningful film that parents and teens should see together. For more information, visit GraceUnplugged.com. 11:15AM, 1:50PM, 4:30PM, 7:15PM, 9:50PM Rated PG Fall Bazaar - We re invited! Christ Lutheran Church at 311 North Hershey Road in Normal (Hershey at Ft. Jesse Rd.) is hosting a Fall Bazaar on Saturday, October 19 th from 9-1. Coffee and sweets will be served until 10:30 and Lunch (root beer floats, brats, German potato salad, sauer kraut, hot dogs, chicken noodle soup, and dessert) from They will have a Bake Shop, Attic Treasures (new and gently used items), Crafts, and Sewing. Proceeds help fund projects of the Ladies Guild. Thrivent is matching the proceeds from this event. Our sister congregation, Trinity Lutheran of Peoria, hosts the Trinity Concert Series. Some of the concerts they will be hosting include: Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols - Wed., Dec. 18 th at 7 pm (pre-service music at 6:30 pm) Concertos by Candlelight - featuring Lisette Kielson, recorder - Fri., Febr. 28 th at 7 pm The Bradley Chorale - Dr. John Jost, conductor - Thurs., May 1 st at 7 pm. For more information call or visit

6 Weekend. We would love to show you the Biblebased and time proven ways to create in your church the best possible environment for your pastor and other workers. Every member of the church benefits when their called workers can say, This is a great place to be in ministry. These people will receive from me my very best! We know you ll appreciate that! From Grace Place Do pastors appreciate Pastor Appreciation month? It turns out they appreciate it far more than you might imagine! A recent survey showed that twothirds of pastors say that words of encouragement and acts of appreciation are important or very important to their self-assessment of how they are doing in their faithfulness to God s call, and ninetyeight percent say that such expressions of appreciation are at least somewhat important to them. Pastors are very concerned about fulfilling their calling in a God-pleasing way, and the Lord s most common way of offering the encouragement that all of us need, (including pastors!) is feedback from those closest to us, from those we serve in His name. There are dozens of ways to express your thanks to God for your pastor by a small act of kindness to him or his family. (Try Googling Pastor Appreciation and see what you get!) Some of our favorites at Grace Place are the most simple and most obvious. Spend two minutes in prayer for our pastor and his ministry to you and your family. If you mention specific times during the year, a memorable sermon or Bible class, a visit or a caring word, maybe you witnessed the attention he gave to a family in need at church-- your words have even greater impact. For a simple and easy thank you, consider a small gift card for a night out with his wife, ice cream for the children or a real pastoral favorite, bookstore gift cards from CPH or Amazon. You know how pastors love their books. But for the best gift you could give your pastor, talk to the leaders of your church about inviting Grace Place to lead you in a Congregational Wellness OAFC The next Ongoing Ambassadors For Christ weekend will be held October 11-13, St. Paul, Havana, IL. They would like to know by October 6th if you can attend so they can start lining up the transportation, housing, food, etc. for the weekend. Contact Pastor Kevin or Tawn if you plan to attend. If you have any questions about the weekend or upcoming weekends, please contact Ms. Jamie Louderback at cidoafc12@gmail.com or cell OAFC is a fun weekend designed for youth (7 th grade and older) and adults to share their faith and assist congregations. Here are the weekends that are currently planned for those in our area: 2013 October St. Paul, Havana, IL December New Years (Location TBA) 2014 March 14-16, Faith, Mt. Pleasant, IA, (IA weekend) April 4-6, St. John, Green Valley, IL June 6-8, Our Redeemer, Iowa City, IA, (IA weekend) June 20-22, Christ, Peoria, IL July 17-23, Summer Training, Good Shepherd, Midwest City, OK

7 Danger! "No Church Today" - first time cancelled in 1600 years! Danger! trees in Germany. They kept saying Mass when Rome fell and Islam came to power. * They said Mass when empires rose and when those same empires fell. They said Mass when Napoleon came to town, and they said it when England's General Gordon was serving as their protector. * In times of flood and drought, in times of want and plenty, in times of wealth and poverty, they said Mass. (Jesus said) "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." Matthew 5:43-44 During my parish years I made many mistakes. The worst was when I cancelled Christmas. Actually, I didn't cancel Christmas. Feeling it unsafe for people to be out, my elders and I cancelled the children's Christmas service. The first time we cancelled the service was because of a snowstorm. Then we had to cancel the rescheduled date because of another snowstorm. Then we cancelled the second rescheduled date because of... you guessed it... a snowstorm. Finally, with Lent around the corner we just decided to skip the service, and we moved on. No matter how well intentioned, it was a mistake. It was a mistake that pleased nobody. Parents didn't get to see their children perform; the children didn't get to say their well-memorized pieces, and the teachers thought all the rehearsal time had been for naught. The Christians of Minya, Egypt, made no such mistake. Unbroken, they have been celebrating Mass for 1,600 years. Consider what that means. But last Sunday, for the first time in 1,600 years, the church leaders told our brothers and sisters in Minya, "Do not come to church. It is too dangerous. For your own safety and that of your family, please don't come to church." It occurs to me that the decision was not made lightly. Indeed, for a church with that kind of unbroken tradition the political situation must be pretty bad. No, make that very bad. In truth, things are terrible in Egypt for the Savior's followers. Dozens of churches have been destroyed; Christians have been raped, beaten and murdered. This is why I ask that you, the tens of thousands of Daily Devotion readers, pray for these people. Ask that the Lord will bring peace to this ancient land and that the Savior's redeemed be able to worship Him as they wish and He wants. THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, this Sunday, if You will, I shall go to church. As I walk or drive, may I consider how blessed I am to do so in safety. Please support those who are persecuted. Be with them in worship and when they must worship at home. Most of all I pray for those who are doing the persecuting. May they be brought to see the error of their ways and the peace that comes from faith in the Savior. In His Name I pray. Amen. Pastor Ken Klaus Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour * It means these people had been saying Mass for centuries when our ancestors were worshipping oak

8 Careers for Christ Weekend - Oct , 2013 High school sophomores, juniors, and seniors who are interested in becoming church professionals are invited to CUC for a weekend of special activities where they will have the opportunity to: -Learn more about CUC s church professional programs: -Director of Christian Education (DCE) -Pastoral Ministry (Pre-Seminary) -Lutheran Teacher Education (LTE) -Deaconess -Director of Parish Music (DPM) -Personally connect with faculty and current students. -Enjoy a group outing to exciting downtown Chicago. -Tour CUC s beautiful 40-acre campus Questions? Visit us online at CUChicago.edu/C4C or call Good Shepherd Lutheran News - Jog-a-thon will be held on Oct 4 &5th. We are in need of Coke, Pepsi and/or water donations. The donation can be dropped off at the school anytime Mon-Friday from 8am - 4pm. - School Pic's will be held on Oct 9th & 10th. - No school Oct 14th. - PTL Fall event will be held on Oct. 18th. - Parent/Teacher Conference will be held on Oct 21st & 22nd after school. - Early dismissal Oct. 23rd. - Teachers Lutheran Conferences (no School) Oct 24th & 25th. - Trunk or Treat will be Oct 30th. Women s Winter Conference Save the Date! January 31 & February 1, 2014 Redeemer Lutheran Church in Peoria is hosting their annual Women s Winter Conference on January 31 and February 1, The Women of Redeemer welcome you! The featured speaker for the weekend is Robyn Dykstra who is a dynamic, funny, Jesus-loving, Bible study teacher and Christian speaker with over 20 years experience in retreat and conference ministry. Her stories will delight and captivate you. In addition to Robyn, on Friday night only, we will have Christian comedian Jeremy Nunes. He has just been named favorite new comedian by Sirius Radio. -You will have the choice to attend the Friday evening session, Saturday sessions, or both! -New this year is child care for conference attendees. -Gift certificates for the conference are available starting November 10. -Contact Shirley Ann Smith Volleyball season! Check out GoodShepherdPekin.com for schedule and more school news!

9 St. John s Lutheran Church Sand Prairie Townline Road - Green Valley, IL (309) Secretary@SandPrairieLutheran.org Pastor Kevin Bueltmann DCE Bill Krueger School Principal Joel Kilgus +++ Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage Paid Green Valley, IL Permit No. 1 8:00 am Traditional Worship 9:30 am Sunday School & Bible Classes 10:45 am Contemporary Worship October 2013 Return Service Requested Did you hear the latest? Those words get many people s adrenalin up. For some people, because they just can t wait to hear some juicy news. For other people, like me, gossip makes me very angry because gossip not only hurts other people, but it also hurts our church and our witness to the Savior s name. In Martin Luther s explanation of the 8 th Commandment, he says We should fear and love God that we may not deceitfully belie, betray, slander, or defame our neighbor, but defend him, [think and] speak well of him, and put the best construction on everything. Putting the best construction on everything means, giving someone the benefit of the doubt. When we spread rumors (whether true or not) we discourage people in their walk with the Lord. We also cause those who are weak in the faith to stumble. We also cause people to leave our church because whether or not they believe the rumor; they are probably disgusted that someone like you is actually spreading this rumor. STOP IT!!! And ask for forgiveness. If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses. Matthew 18:15:15-16 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. Ephesians 4:15 Pastor Kevin Bueltmann