In Action. St. Matthew. Pastor s Corner. St. Matthew Lutheran Church Mapleton, IA Newsletter Sponsor

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1 2013 January Dates To Remember 01: Secret Church 4:00 pm 02: Board of Discipleship 7:00 pm 03: Women s Bible Study 1:30 pm 05: 7/8 Conf Classes Resume 9:30 07: OGT Quilting 8:30-3:30 pm Ladies Bible Study 7:00 pm 23: Board of Directors 7:00 pm 27: Jan. Voter s Meeting 11:45 am Newsletter Sponsor The mailing of this month s newsletter is sponsored by Evelyn Christiansen in loving memory of her husband Robert. Thank you Evelyn and God s blessings for your generosity which makes it possible for all members to receive the newsletters in their homes this month. Your help is greatly appreciated. May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Note to Board Directors: Please have your yearly report turned into the church office by Wednesday, January 16 th. Thank you! - Kathy Jo, Sect. St. Matthew In Action St. Matthew Lutheran Church Mapleton, IA Pastor s Corner Jesus said, If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. John 15:18-19 We are now living in a world that is ever changing; a world that is falling from the Word of God; a world that HATES you because you believe in Christ! Jesus Christ predicts that His disciples will face turmoil in an unbelieving world not only because He saw it, but because He experienced that hatred against Him as well. This is the time that we live in. As the New Year begins, we will continue to see changes in our nation, changes in the people around us. Yet, while there will be many changes all around you, the church is still here! St. Matthew Lutheran is here to help you grow in your faith walk. St. Matthew Lutheran is here to help you stand up with great courage in a world that hates you because you love Jesus. The time is now for us to stand together, to stand strong in a world that hates us because of what we believe. Jesus spoke the words of John 15 and 16 to His disciples just prior to His horrific crucifixion in order to prepare them for what was to come. He didn t want them to be caught off guard. He doesn t want us to be caught off guard either. And yet He didn t end His speech with those words. He ended with these words, I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world. (John 16:33) Cont. Page 2.

2 Pastor s Desk The message of Christ is the only truth that we can continue to hold onto in the coming year. No one knows what 2013 will bring to each of us. Will it bring more persecution? Maybe. Will it bring more hatred from the world? Probably. Yet Christ promises to strengthen and keep us from falling away. He promises to give us what the world cannot give, peace. Together, as the New Year begins, the brothers and sisters of St. Matthew will continue to stand firm against the ways of the world. Worship will happen, children and adults will grow in their faith, and the sacraments will continue to be shared. All this happening while the world around us hates us with increased intensity. Be encouraged dear friends. Have peace. We will continue to stand strong, being courageous together in the love of Jesus because God is on our side. It s all about Jesus. He is the one who rescues us from the trials of this world. And the Holy Spirit keeps you strong in the faith, for because of His great love for you Christ has chosen you out of the world through His death and resurrection! To God be the Glory Forever! Pastor Jensen WINTER WEATHER can mean changes or cancellations! Call the church office and chose option #4 to hear if there are any changes or cancellations or you may contact an Elder. Thank You Notes.... Thank you to the members of St. Matthew for the prayers, cards, phone calls, visits and flowers at the time of my open heart surgery at Rochester and since my return home. Thank you to Pastor Jensen for his visit and to Kay Johnson for bringing the church bulletin and a copy of Pastor s sermon each week. It was all very much appreciated. God s blessings to the members of St. Matthew. Shirley Scoles Thank you to everyone who furnished poinsettias to beautify the altar during Christmas season! - The Altar Guild Hospital Visits: If you or a loved one are in the hospital and would like a visit from Pastor or a prayer over the phone, please inform the church office ( ) or Pastor directly ( ) to request one. Do You Like To Read? Or Watch Movies? We are looking for volunteers who would like to read a book from our church library or watch a video from the church library and write a short report on it for the monthly newsletter. This would help the congregation know what s available. Please talk to Kathy Jo if you are interested. JANUARY QUARTERLY VOTERS MEETING January 27th Quarterly Voters Meeting! Since the meeting will be right after second worship service, there will be a light lunch served.

3 BIRTHDAY GREETINGS With joy, we give special recognition to: Earl Schelm who is celebrating his 101 th birthday on January 20 th. God s blessings and a very special happy birthday all of you. May each new day bring you a renewal of God s blessings! THRIVENT CHOICE DOLLARS: Your Thrivent Choice Dollars can be allocated to St. Matthew for use on needed projects. If you have Thrivent Choice Dollars to allocate, or have any questions on how to do this please contact your Thrivent representative at THRIVENT or visit Are you interested in joining the church or just wanting more information on what it means to be Lutheran? Then stop by the church office, talk with Pastor, and pick up a copy of the book "Above All Else." WEDDING ANNIVERSARY GREETINGS With joy, we give special recognition to the following couples who are celebrating anniversaries in January of 50 years or more! 3 rd : Delbert & Dorothy Kroll, 60 th wedding anniversary 6 th : Hans & Lavone Witzel, 56 th wedding anniversary God s blessings to you! We wish you many more anniversaries and blessings to follow! * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The following children are celebrating January birthdays! 1/03/ Zach Schaffer 1/04/ Jon Pickel 1/04/ Brooklyn Leitz 1/08/ Emma Pithan 1/09/ Lilly Jensen 1/11/ Paige Schmidt 1/27/ Troy Schmidt 1/31/ Kaylee Brodersen Pastor s Sermons: If you would like a copy of one of Pastor Jensen s sermons, there will be a sign-up sheet on the back table. Fill in your name and the date of the sermon you would like to have. How Can YOU Help Our Pastor? Please call the church office. Before going to the hospital When a baby is born When you would like private communion When there is a death in your family When you plan to be married When you would like private counsel When you would like adult confirmation When new people move into the community When someone is entering the armed forces When you need help or wish to help When you or a member of your family change your mailing address

4 2 Choices 4 Ladies Bible Study! Beginning in January there are 2 Ladies Bible Studies to choose from: There will be a new women's Bible study called "In the Word" starting on January 3, 2013 with Pastor Jensen as the leader. The "In the Word" Bible Study will be held on the first Thursday afternoon of each month at 1:30 p.m. Please plan to attend for study, conversation and coffee! The Monday night ladies bible study will begin again on January 7:00 p.m. The Ladies Bible Study Group will be starting a new study by Beth Moore on Esther (It s Tough Being a Woman). This is a DVD series and study books are estimated to be about $20. Please let Lauren or the church office know if you wish to sign up for this study. This group meets the 1st and 3rd Mondays of the month. All ladies are welcome both of these studies where we share, laugh and enjoy fellowship with one another. Get Back to the Basics January 1 4:00 Front Doors Will Be Open News from the Eisold Family- our Mission Festival speaker this year. Dear Friends at St. Matthews, Merry Christmas! December has been a wonderful month for our family and the church. The children have taken part in swim meet and a school dance festival. They have their final day of this school year on Friday. We praise God that they did so well in their first school ever as their entire day was in Spanish! They invited friends to come to the San Borja Chocolatada, and three of their friends came! They had a Christmas party with their friends at the pool and they will have their closing ceremony at their school on Friday. The Lutheran Mission in Peru hosted a Chocolatada in San Borja, and will host another in La Victoria and Los Olivos this weekend. We are praying for the people to come and that they will continue to come to know Him and worship Him. We praise God for a great location for the Chocolatada in La Victoria and we are so thankful for the help that the municipality in that area is giving us. As we approach summer, we are looking forwards to all the groups from the United States who are coming down to help with outreach, Vacation Bible School and so much more. We are so thankful for those who want to help us here. We are currently looking for summer educational opportunities for Annalise and Erik. We have found two locations within walking distance in which the children may be able to attend. We are hoping to find a place in which the children can continue learning in their Spanish, as well as take classes in art, music and PE, which their very small school does not offer. We know that by taking these classes, their Spanish will continue to improve too. One of the possible locations for summer classes for the children is at the Cultural Center in San Borja. Before finding out the specifics of some classes the children may be interested in, I shared information about our Christmas service as well as about our English night in which the Peruvians can come for free to practice English. The woman quickly shared that they are looking for a volunteer to lead a

5 conversational English class over the summer. We don't know if this will work out, but this serves as a reminder that the opportunities to reach out to the people here are plentiful. Praise God that He continues to open so many doors. Here is the link for our Eisold family Christmas letter pwwdxczmjpupgvgvgromcvuuqu37r5xdqp1 UKUAJ04/edit Blessings to you as you celebrate His coming! Merry Christmas! In Christ, Mark, Sandi, Annalise and Erik Eisold Idle Hands, Idle Hearts When we were young, old sayings were just things old people say. Then we grew up and found ourselves repeating the words of the old people verbatim. We realized that the sayings longevity went hand-inhand with their accuracy. For example, Idle hands are the devil s playground. It was this truth that reared its ugly head the morning of the Christmas Program just a couple weeks ago when the early birds of the church discovered the figures of the front manger scene knocked over, the angel dismantled and busted, a wise man cracked and the baby Jesus manger in a splintered heap on the threshold of the church. A flurry of emotions and words stampeded through my mind as I surveyed the damage a few hours later. I watched Lilly silently as she picked up the pieces and brushed off the snow and rocks. I stared at the baby Jesus, arms stretched open in innocence and love, and wondered, Why? What could possess someone to desecrate a church s nativity scene? Anger, violation, confusion. Senseless. Just completely senseless. It wasn t the first time I d felt those emotions that day. Following the Christmas Program, Pastor announced worship times for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, and it hit me- I missed it. Advent is over, and I missed it. Somewhere in the baking, and the shopping, and the music, and the diaper changes and the day-to-day, I missed it. And it was my own fault. If idle hands are the devil s playground, than idle hearts must be his sanctuary. It is not long before idle hearts become idol hearts. Somewhere in the hustle-bustle of the season, I neglected my own heart. But Jesus didn t. And here was baby Jesus, without even a manger to rest within. I don t reside in a manger, He reminded me. I reside in your heart. And even those who would rob me of a bed, cannot rob you of My love. And so I prayed. I prayed for those whose hearts are open to the destruction caused by the devil. I prayed for second chances. For third chances. For seventy times seven. I thanked God that even though I missed it, I neglected my own heart health, He used the ugliness in the world to make me stop and ponder only Him. He took the havoc wreaked by the devil s playground and gave me the chance to make a place for Him. A make-shift manger from my daughter and me. I didn t give Him my best. Not much more than a shoebox really. Not like He gave us. He knew that His most precious gift, His only Son, would be mistreated and killed by those, and for those, who willingly prepared their hearts for the devil and not for Him. Yet, He gave us it all. He held nothing back. He removed idle hearts of stone and gave us hearts of flesh, and sometimes it takes senseless vandalism, or worse, to remind us of that. We say goodbye to a year of joy and of atrocities. We look forward into a year that holds unknown happiness and turmoil. Yet do not let your hearts be afraid. Instead, let us remember Romans 8:31-32, What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Emmanuel, God is with us. And He comes in love. By Lauren Jensen

6 OGT QUILTING (Orphan Grain Train) BEGINS on JANUARY 7, This is the same quilting that we always do for the needy, only we distribute them through OGT instead of LWR. It is much less work for us, can be delivered locally and still basically goes to the same kind of places where NEEDED. We have much donated fabrics and there is much prepared and ready to put together. WE NEED HELP - please consider coming for a few hours on Mondays. Anytime between 8:30 am and 3:30 pm. If you are there at noon, bring a sack lunch. Also bringing a scissor is helpful. The work is simple - something for everyone - come and enjoy the fellowship.