2018 January 842 ALAMEDA DR. ONTARIO, OR*(541) from the office of Pastor Justin Johnson

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1 the 2018 January St. Paul Newsletter 842 ALAMEDA DR. ONTARIO, OR*(541) from the office of Pastor Justin Johnson On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold frankincense, and myrrh. Matthew 2:11 By the time you read this, Christmas will have happened again for another year. In my house we are pretty traditional in that we open our presents either on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. I once had a member of previous congregation who told me that his family would open their presents on Epiphany, the day the magi showed up. He explained that it was quite tortuous to go back to school after Christmas break and explain to his friends that he did not yet know what he got for Christmas because he had not opened his presents yet. Gift-giving, it is a part of Christmas for many people. It is done to show love, care, and kindness toward others. We give gifts, because we remember the greatest gift that was ever given, God s son Jesus. As we look at the gifts the magi gave Jesus, they were of great value and they were worthy of a king: Gold, frankincense and myrrh. These valuable items were standard gifts to honor a king or deity in the ancient world: gold as a precious metal, frankincense as perfume or incense, and myrrh as anointing oil. The way the magi give the gifts is more than an act of kindness or caring and it certainly was not an obligation. We all know that feeling of giving someone a gift out of obligation and it does not feel good to give that gift. No the way the magi give their gifts is an act or worship. They kneel down and pay homage and then the present the gifts of great value to Jesus. These were tremendous gifts, not only because of their value, but the time and effort it took for the magi to get there. The gifts that are most meaningful to us are the ones that we know were of great cost to the giver. Now this is relative. Getting $1000 from a billionaire would be less meaningful than your child giving you art an project that she worked all day on. Why, because $1000 to a billionaire is pocket change and didn t hardly cost him a thing whereas the child took great effort in the art project. And the other factor is the relationship. Gifts carry more meaning when they come from those you love deeply. And so it is with God in Jesus. In Jesus, we know that God loves us deeply. For Jesus is sent to save us from our sin and to be Emmanuel, God with us. And we are invited to respond to that love by first trusting that this is so in Jesus. We are also invited to respond to the gift of Jesus the same way that the magi do, by giving something of great value. For most of us, that is money, but time is becoming just as valuable as money these days. As we begin the new year, I invite you to think about how you are going to worship God in Jesus Christ by giving of your money, or your time, or other resources the you may have. That may be at St. Paul, but I know you are also giving of your time and money to other very worthwhile ventures. With that, I would like to invite you to keep track of the hours that you volunteer. We track financial giving, let s track our giving of time as well. Blessings to you all in the New Year! Pastor Justin

2 DATE FIRST READING PSALM SECOND READING GOSPEL 01/07 Genesis 1:1-5 Psalm 29 Acts 19:1-7 Mark 1: /14 1 Samuel 3:1-20 Psalm 139:1-6, Corinthians 6:12-20 John 1: /21 Jonah 3:1-5, 10 Psalm 62:5-12 1Corinthians 7:29-31 Mark 1: /28 Deuteronomy 18:15-20 Psalm 111 1Corinthians 8:1-13 Mark 1: /04 Isaiah 40:21-31 Psalm 147:1-11, 20c 1 Corinthians 9:16-23 Serving in the months of January and February Mark 1:29-39 If you find you can not serve on the day you were assigned, contact either Amy Williams or Dave Davies and they will find someone to take your place. Date Reader Communion Usher Acolyte Fellowship 1/07 J. Dimock Meyer P. Lawson G. Cates K. Katruska 1/14 A. Williams Dockter/ Carpenter W. Davies A. Williams R. Meyers 1/21 L. Erlebach Hawkins M. Schmid M. Williams 1/28 D. Davies Williams J. Dimock 2/04 B. Willis Kulm A. Williams M. Davies J. Peden 2/11 M. Davies De Pauw M. Davies G. Cates K. Katruska 2/18 Erlebach D. Davies A. Williams R. Meyers 2/25 R. Meyers Davies J. Peden Pastor is on vacation until January 2nd. The church offices will be closed on January 1 for New Years and the secretary will be out January 2 and 3rd. Secretary s hours are: Monday through Friday 1:30pm to 3:00pm She is at Giggles & Grace in the mornings. Please call her cell phone if you need her outside of these times. Food Bank Sunday January 7th Thank you to everyone who donated in December. We collected 127 pounds!!!!

3 EARLY&LEARNING&&&CENTER& Giggles & Grace Giggles & Grace staff and board members would like to wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! We will be opening the new preschool classroom at the G&G Center on January 8th to serve more children in addition to providing opportunities for college students. We are sad to see Stefany Belknap leave G&G as the Education Coordinator; however, we are happy to have Miranda Spivey transition into the position. Miranda will serve as the Program Coordinator for the Head Start/Child Care site at OCDC and assist in filling the additional spots that we expanded at that site. She is a wonderful addition to our amazing staff! We wish Stefany the best of luck in her new job! Merry Christmas Shawn C. Reynolds; Executive Director Giggles & Grace Early Learning Center, Inc SW 8th Ave Ontario, OR Office: (541) Sunday School Adult bible study it from 8:45 to 9:30am Youth education is from 11:15 to noon Confirmation class is 11:45 to 1:15pm There is no children s Sunday school or confirmation class on: January 7 Thank you to everyone who donated items for the homeless this Christmas season. Council Corner Annual Church Meeting: Sunday, January 28, right after worship. We will be voting on new members for council as well as reporting on church happenings this past year and exciting things happening in the upcoming year. Your participation is important for the life of our church family. Pot Luck with Council providing the meat please bring a dish to share. The Church secretary needs reports turned in by January 14th from the following: Pastor Justin President-Amy Williams Council Secretary- Raeshelle Meyer Financial Secretary- Jan Keele. Education Committee-??? It is that time of the year again! Luther Heights is getting ready to HIRE our 2018 Summer Staff! They have opportunities and positions for a variety of people. As a member congregation of Luther Heights Bible Camp, we are asking for assistance in finding those who are being called into ministry to share their gifts with young campers and families alike. We thank you for all of your continued support of LHBC. I have applications for the following positions in the church office (5) staff applications for the following positions: Program Coordinator, Counselor, Maintenance, Counselor-In-Training, Assistant Cook, Head Cook, Health Professional, and Volunteer opportunities. (5) Camp-hand applications for High School students wanting a chance to work at camp for a few weeks during the summer. (4) Nurse flyers for those who would like to volunteer Thank you for the card and gift we received Christmas Eve! Pastor Justin, Melissa, Audrey, Camille, and Cecily.

4 Birthdays and Anniversaries for January 2018 Birthdays Anniversaries 01/03 Kayla Delong 01/03 Kaylee Kitrleson 01/09 Natalee Aalgaard 01/11 Vance Jackson 01/12 Lavin Gerulf 01/12 Mark Keele 01/16 Karen King 01/23 Casey Erlebach 01/24 Wayne Haas 01/24 Bill Keele 01/31 Shannon Hawkins Church Council President: Amy Williams Jean Peden Vice Pres: Dave Davies Kathy Katruska Secretary: Raeshelle Meyer Sue Kolbaba Treasurer: Peggy Hawkins Mikel Davies Pastor Justin Johnson Mike Cates Prayer list To give updates or to add new prayers, please call Jean Peden or the Church office Thank you IMMEDIATE & URGENT Bev Raze Raymond Feltner (Jennifer King) Bonnie Brasseur Randy Page (Jennifer King) Barb Alley (Jennifer King) Phillip Hamsher(Mary Hamsher) Jennifer King Elizabeth (Cheryl Quigley) Doug Kaechele (Joyce McCurdy) Long Term Karen Bommersbach Vern Kulm (Brother of Ron Kulm) Ruthele Edwards (sister of Betty Anderson) Kevin Krueger (Friend of Holly Davies) Aila Howe (Skip & Turza Thayer) Mary Dillon (Doug Davis) Johnny Drinkall (Doug Davis) Joe Lafferty (Doug Davis) Dan Thorson (Tom Hawkins) Jennika Zenner (Doug Davis) Karen Findley (Jordan Dimock) Kimi Seales (Doug Davis) Richard Stitzer (Tamar Cates) Joe Recla (Doug Davis) Lisa Holt (Brasseur) Tim & Tracey Leonard George Aalgaard (James) Wayne Jelsing (Holly Davies) Linda Erlebach (Terry s sister) Virginia Fox Pam Seiders (Joel Williams) Sharon Larson (Betty Anderson) Claire Farber Mary Hamsher Doraine Keele Trudy Carpenter (Mark Carpenter) Brock Kulm (Ron Kulm) Jim Gibbons (Shari DePauw) Bob Fisher (Jan Keele) Virginia Beale (Doug Davis) Carol Waloch (Karen Bommersbach) Carol Sue Wiley Philips (Kolbaba) Chavelo Loera (Doug Davis) Rachel Johnson (Steve Gerulf) Service Personnel Ronnie Weimer Willie Erlebach Casey Erlebach

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6 the J A N U A R Y NEWSLETTER Our Mission: In our Triune God, we commit to teach, learn, witness and honor. In faith we will grow. Visit us at Like us on Facebook at St Paul Lutheran Church Office hours Monday thru Friday 1:30 pm to 3:00 pm phone number ST PAUL LUTHERAN CHURCH 842 Alameda Drive Ontario, Oregon Address Service Requested