St. John s Evangelical Lutheran Church 910 Allentown Road Sellersville PA 18960

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1 St. John s Evangelical Lutheran Church Allentown Road, Sellersville PA Office Hours: Monday - Thursday 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM Office Phone: stjohnsridgevalley910@gmail.com Web: Worship Schedule: 8:30 AM Traditional 10:15 AM Praise Service Adult Forum and Kid s Sunday School Forum weekly at 9:40 AM St. John s Council Members Don Graham - Council President Phyllis Kogel - Council Vice President Michele Walter - Financial Secretary Barb Klinger - Treasurer Cornell Hopkins - Council Secretary Nancy Esposito Vicki Guenst Doug Kemp Shirley Nase Chris Wall The Reverend Amy Hotter, Pastor (267) Ministers: The People of St. John s Office Manager: Heidi Link (Sept 4.) (215) Publications: Karen Quinn Mark Gottesfeld, Organist and Music Director Christine Nyce, Jesse Dorn - Sextons St. John s Evangelical Lutheran Church 910 Allentown Road Sellersville PA 18960

2 When we pray together, we storm the gates of heaven. Please pray with one another for healing and the well being of Members: members Pauline Berndt, Ellen Croissette, Nancy Esposito, Arlene Kulp, Brenda Moyer, Kathy Pegg, Linda Trauger, Harriet Woehr, and our friends, Kathy Barger, Ruth Barnaby, Claire Dejardin, Eddie Galgon, Glenn Herd, Mary King, Jay Moyer, Marvin Nase, Alli & Dave Porier, Elizabeth Schmitt, & best friend Hula, The Homebound: Francis Allem, Claude Barndt, Edna Barndt, Pauline Berndt, Lucille Caruso, Richard Croissette, Ed Geiger, James Gotthart, Willis & Lorraine Heacock, Bob Kulp, Mark Trauger, Elaine Turner. The Homebound: Francis Allem, Claude Barndt, Edna Barndt, Pauline Berndt, Lucille Caruso, Richard Croissette, Ed Geiger, James Gotthart, Willis & Lorraine Heacock, Bob Kulp, Mark Trauger, Elaine Turner. JANUARY FEBRUARY Annual Meeting Office Notes from Heidi Link: We wanted to let you know that the sign-up calendars for flowers, bulletins and candles are available in the fellowship hall. Make a New Year s resolution to help save lives by signing up to donate blood at our Red Cross Blood Drive on Wednesday January 24 from 2:00 pm to 7:00 pm. Sign up sheet is in the fellowship area. Be a blessing - Heidi Link

3 Dear Brother and Sister in Jesus Christ, I wish you a very Happy New Year 2018!!!! I take a moment to think back on the good and sad times over this past year. We had many wonderful fellowship events including: our annual picnic with the water play, Carillon Concert as I see Laurie and Sharon delivering ice cream, Harvest Home warms our hearts, Chili Cook-off fills our bellies, Progressive Dinner was tasty and spray of mud, Bingo sharing of prizes, and Bonfiressmores - great music that gives us a chance to hear God s Word and testimonies. What a wonderful time together that gives us a gift of getting to know each other while deepening our faith. And I can t forget all of you who provide our fellowship at coffee hour after each worship service. I am very thankful of how generous, kind, and loving our brothers & sisters are to one another. Our family continues to provide support and love to many of our eighty and ninety year olds. I am so amazed and thankful that many of you take your time to visit in homes and the various nursing homes. Many of you take time to send cards, prayer shawls, and prayers. And in return, I believe that each of our homebound members continue to pray for St. John s. One of our sisters realized that with technology we can bring images to our loved one; so thank you Penny and so many others that think out of the box. Therefore we now can take pictures of all our homebound members, members of the church, and even pictures of our sanctuary. I am so very excited to get out and share what is happening in the church. Finally, we express our sympathy for all the families who had members who went to be with Jesus. The sadness of saying goodbye was and is deeply felt. This year we hold 19 loved ones on our hearts. Oh how, I miss them and their smiles. Time is so very precious. We acknowledge how fast the weeks go by. So may we enjoy each moment. The Light of the world, Jesus Christ, provides us with peace and joy as we believe in our Savior with an eternal life. May we give all the glory of God and live out Paul s message: Paul wrote: Therefore, as God s chosen people holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Paul offers a strategy to help us live for God day by day: 1. Imitate Christ s compassionate, forgiving attitude 2. Let God guide our life 3. Let peace of Christ rule in your heart 4. Always be thankful 5 Keep God s Word in you at all times, Live as Jesus Christ s representative. In Jesus love, Pastor Amy

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5 JANUARY BIRTHDAY LIST We have copies with the birthday list available at the church if you would like one, but we don t publish birth dates on the web. Mark Your Calendar for this important congregational meeting for all members on February 4, 2018 at St. John s. Watch the bulletin for more information. Thanks for understanding. The office staff. Please join us the weekend of January 27, 2018 to hear the Rev. Richard Hartmann speak at all the services about a ministry providing direct relief to the poor throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. Pastor Hartmann will share personal witness about Food For The Poor s mission to care for the destitute as a means of living out the Gospel mandate to love one another. Pastor Rick was ordained in 1983 and has studied at Trinity Lutheran Seminary and the University of St. Thomas in Houston. He is a retired ELCA pastor with 30 years in parish ministry serving congregations in Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Ohio, and Texas, where he now lives. Pastor Rick s primary social concern is for hungry people everywhere and so he relishes the opportunity to be ministering through Food For The Poor and each congregation he visits. Please join us in welcoming Pastor Hartmann.

6 Please keep our homebound in your prayers - Francis Allem, Claude Barndt, Edna Barndt, Pauline Berndt, Lucille Caruso, Richard Croissette, Ed Geiger, James Gotthart, Willis & Lorraine Heacock, Bob Kulp, Mark Trauger, Elaine Turner. We pray for the Mancuso family on the death of Joseph Mancuso on December 24, 2017 Prayers for our Military - Cody Hotter; Steven Walter; Jacob Baxter The Note From the office can be found on the first page of this newsletter. Memorials were received in loving memory of Eugene and Helen Seachrist, John and Dorothy Finkbeiner, and Augusta Albrecht from Barbara Seachrist and Family.

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8 15 New Year s Resolutions To Help You Grow in Faith 1. Read Your Bible 20 Minutes a Day, Every Day. Don t think you have time? Try scheduling it on your calendar 2. Go to Church Every Week. New Years is the perfect time to get back in the habit if it s been a while. 3. Set Aside 15 Minutes Each Day to Pray. Have you gotten out of the habit of praying regularly? New Year s is a great time to start setting that time aside once again. Even if you re busy you still have time for God: Wake up 15 minutes earlier Pray in the shower Pray while you re doing your hair/make-up Pray during your commute Pray on your lunch break Pray while making dinner Pray before falling asleep at night The possibilities are endless! 4. Join a Bible Study - St. John s has a nice one for you! Wednesdays from 6:15 to 7:15 PM. And we have Sunday School Forums on Sunday at 9:40AM Ask Pastor Amy how to get involved. This is a great way to dig into the Bible for greater insights and to get some good accountability in your life. 5. Ask a Friend to Church. Do you have any non-christian friends, family or co-workers? Or know someone who may like to join you at church? Maybe this year is the year you finally get brave enough to invite them to church with you. The worst they can say is no, right? 6. Begin Volunteering. Have a little extra time on your hands right now? Why not try volunteering? St. John s has great ministry opportunities and lots of groups you can get involved with. Stop in the office and ask about what is most needed. 7. Start Tithing. The Scriptures do say that Christians are called to be generous. If you haven t gotten in the tithing habit yet, now is a great time to start. Think of the positive impact your gift can bring in your community of faith. 8. Read a Certain Number of Christian Books Each Month. While the Bible is the most important book you ll read all year, there are tons of other books out there that can encourage you, challenge you and strengthen your faith. 9. Memorize Scripture. When is the last time you intentionally sat down to memorize Scripture? Has it been a while? If so, this year is a great opportunity to start back up again! 10. Forgive Past Grudges. The Bible makes it abundantly clear if you are a Christian, you are expected to forgive those who have hurt you. Note: This doesn t mean what they did is okay or that you need to allow them the ability to do it again, but you do need to get rid of any grudges or unforgiveness you may be harboring in your heart. 11. Be a More Loving/Involved Wife, Husband, Mother, Father, Daughter, Son or Friend. We re all guilty of letting our relationships slide a bit at times. Ready to make a change? Don t promise to just do better. Get specific. What are 1-5 specific actions you are going to do to improve your relationships and when will you to do them? 12. Be Content With What You Have. It can be difficult to be content in America. There are always ads and commercials surrounding us, reminding us to want more. This year maybe you want to get intentional about fighting that urge. Perhaps you d like to try a No Spend month, and then save that money for something important or give it to charity? 13. Refuse to Gossip. Are you guilty of gossiping? Maybe this year is the year you decide to change that. If so, here are a couple articles that may help: 14. Stop Complaining. Are you guilty of complaining? Philippians 2:14 reminds us to Do everything without complaining and arguing. It s easy to complain about slow drivers, annoying people at work, opinionated people on Facebook, and grocery cashiers who put raw meat in with raw vegetables (seriously people!), but in this case, it really is best to just bite your tongue. 15. Do Random Acts of Kindness. This is a fun one and it s actually really easy to do. Choose a set number to do every week or month, and get your kids involved if you can. It will be well worth it! So, what New Year s Resolutions are you making this year?

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