The Good Shepherd News 20 2073 2073 Garden Street Titusville, Florida 32796 [321-267-4323] Rev. Bruce Alberts, Pastor Anne Dobbins, Early Learning Center Director Website: titusvillelutherans.org December 2018 e-mail: office@titusvilllutherans.org Brothers and Sisters in Christ, A Word from the Pastor It s the holiday season. I dislike that term. Nevertheless it s appropriate. Our culture tends to have a lot of celebrations this time of year. Thanksgiving. Christmas. New Year s. And then there are the special events scattered all through the calendar. Christmas plays. Christmas parties. Oh, and even worship! At Good Shepherd, we have our own events scattered across the calendar as well. Wednesdays in December we will have Advent Midweek worship at 11:00 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, December 12 th should be interesting as Rev. Gary Schuschke will be or guest preacher for both services. He has recently been called to serve as an LCMS missionary to Frankfurt, Germany. Also, on the 12 th, we will have yet another Hebrew Club meeting at 7:30 p.m. We also have several fellowship opportunities this month. Saturday, December 8 th, at 5:00 p.m. the Shepherd s Sentinels are hosting a Christmas potluck and fellowship. On December 22 nd Lowell Phelps will give his Christmas presentation and show a movie. We will also serve tacos that night! Christmas Eve worship will be at 4:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. New Year s Eve worship, with Holy Communion will be at 6:30. This is a short note, but I got tired just typing it! There s a lot going on. Let s spend some time in fellowship together and grow as the body of Christ. In His love, BRUCE ALBERTS Pastor Christmas Decorating On Saturday, December 15 we will get together about 9:00am for a couple of hours to decorate the Sanctuary for Christmas. Everybody is Welcome Please join us! Contact Betty Kogok if you have any questions.
December 2018 From the Elders Corner: This month we celebrate the birth of Jesus, a very important event on the church calendar. Jesus birth had been promised to the Jewish people for centuries. They were looking forward to it with great anticipation. God s only Son should have arrived at the temple in Jerusalem riding in a golden chariot, pulled by six white horses. His arrival should have been announced by a huge choir of angels playing harps and blowing trumpets. There should have been a vast crowd of dignitaries, the elite of Jewish society, and all of the priests of the temple. His parents should have been rich and famous. Instead Jesus arrives at a cattle barn in the small village of Bethlehem. There are no crowds and his parents are a Jewish carpenter and his young wife. Jesus should have been delivered at the maternity ward of a large hospital with doctors and nurses in attendance. Instead, he is attended at His birth by farm animals. The only furniture is a manger used to hold hay for the animals. Mary lays a blanket in it and transforms it into a crib. In today s world, Jesus birth would have been announced on Facebook and cable news, and in a few hours the whole world would know of His arrival. Instead His birth is announced by a few angels to a small group of simple shepherds tending their flocks on the hillside surrounding Bethlehem. It s from these shepherds that the world learns of the arrival of the Savior of mankind. What a humble and unassuming arrival! Jesus goes on to live His whole life as an example of humility and servitude. We as Christians should attempt to follow His example. On this Holiday season, Carol and I wish all of you a Merry and Joy-filled Christmas and a Health-filled New Year! God s blessings until next month. Dick Steller Christmas Poinsettias It s that time of year again! Christmas Poinsettias will be available to order beginning Sunday, December 2 thru Sunday, December 16. Order forms will be in the weekly bulletins or you can contact the church office at 267-4323 to place an order. The cost for each poinsettia is $7.00. January Newsletter Articles will be due no later than Friday, December 14. A big thank you to all those that contribute to this monthly newsletter. Please email articles to office@titusvillelutherans.org or leave a hard copy on the desk in the church office. 2
Helpful Health Hints By The Congregation Nurse 3
FROM YOUR HISTORIAN Readers: We can assume that it will be a very busy month, especially for those who are celebrating the real holiday, the Savior s birth. Heard from missing member, Miriam Rauha recently. She has left Titusville and now resides with her daughter who lives in the Rockledge/Viera area. We met down at Trinity Lutheran (on Hopkins) when my membership was transferred down there for a while, a story of too great a length to recite at this time. Miriam is from Finland and still speaks English with some difficulty. I often thought it would be great if she could meet (the late) Goldie Dean, of Finnish background and language ability. Goldie was entertaining several ladies from Finland as well as her mother at her former home on Turpentine Road and invited Miriam and myself to join the group at lunch. It was a wish come true, and I was more than happy to be the only person present who did not speak nor understand Finnish that day. She and Goldie became great personal friends and worked together each year in making the Palm Sunday lapel crosses that were given out at the church entrance. While a Trinity member, Miriam made the challah bread used in their communion services instead of the traditional round wafers. This bread is yellow and has a bread cross incorporated into the top of the outer crust. Since the church did not have elders, the officers served communion, read the scripture lessons of the day and (after Pastor Tejan retired) even read part of the Baptismal questions to the parents and sponsors (but did not administer the water). The challah bread deposited lots of crumbs on the chancel carpeting as small portions were torn off and given to the communicants. In recent years, that practice has been changed with traditional wafers offered. When attending Helen Fincher s funeral, I didn t realize that I was supposed to take the wafer and then dip it into the wine chalice (and there s a special name for this procedure that is used in some denominations for communing children as young as two years of age!). Two people carry the elements down the aisle when it is time for the Sacrament to be administered they are not placed on the altar in advance. Just learned of Sue Dillingham s passing and especially remember that she and the late Jeannette Doebrich were Sunday School secretaries with their office just inside the ed building door. Since we had to go on a double-shift Sunday School schedule almost as soon as the building was dedicated back around 1964 no doubt accounts for the two secretaries. Sue s daughters were members of Girls Mission League back in the old days. Bob Dillingham was the Sunday School Superintendent during that era. At this moment, it is 30 days till Christmas (and I haven t even mentioned Jeanne Geisler s Sunday School Christmas pageant). May you be blessed during this special time and in all the days ahead! The Historian Betty Nething 4
Mid-Week Advent Services Begin Wednesday, December 5 Join us for our Midday services that begin at 11:00am on December 5. Services will continue every Wednesday through December 19 in the Sanctuary. We will be having evening services, at 6:30 pm in the sanctuary on December 5 and December 12. The Early Learning Center Children s program will be on December 19 at 6:30pm, in the Sanctuary for our special Advent service. Make sure to make note on your calendars to join us for the morning or evening services. Creation/Evolution As it turns out most insects have a special organ that defies any evolutionary path. It is so small but so complex with so many functions it is hard to imagine anything but design. It is called the Johnston Organ. So small that it is smaller then the dot on top of an i. Flight control, vibration detection, GPS. As the insect is flying around this organ detects magnetic orientation, air pressure changes and vibration or sound. As the insect gets input this organ allows the insect to react appropriately. Sensing vibration frequency to zero in on a target. Controlling pitch, speed, direction and even relative position. When that bug lands on you with perfect flight control it is because of this tiny clump of cells. That organ directs electrical impulses to every muscle controlling the pitch, angle, power and direction. Then somehow the Johnston organ has precise internal GPS. It calculates the direction and distance for many insects. It controls so many things at the same time that the evolutionary path is impossibly daunting. Design so necessary because so many functions are needed all at the same time with no evolutionary path imaginable. How could mindless evolution create something requiring so much design? Joseph Laberge Good Shepherd Early Learning Center Shopping on Amazon this Christmas season? If so, please consider shopping through our unique charity link at Amazon Smiles. Good Shepherd Early Learning Center receives a donation every time someone shops through our unique Amazon Smiles link! What an easy way to donate to your favorite church ministry! Please type our unique charity link, located below, directly into your web browser when you shop online! https://smile.amazon.com/ch/59-1113929 5
Good Shepherd Early Learning Center Plans a Busy December! Come and Get Involved! ELC Children s Christmas Program All are invited to the children s Christmas program. It will be held Wednesday December 19 th in the Sanctuary at 6:30 PM. The program is in place of the 6:30pm service in the Sanctuary. Please mark your calendar for an adorably fun evening! ELC Classroom Christmas Party On Friday December 21 st the Early Learning Center will have Their classroom Christmas party at 11:00. Come and join the fun with the kids. Parents and grandparents are invited to join in the fun also! Christmas Eve & New Year s Eve Services Christmas Eve Services will be held on Monday, December 24 at 4:00pm and 7:00pm in the Sanctuary. Please make sure to invite your family and friends! New Year s Eve Service will be held at 6:30pm in the Sanctuary on Monday, December 31 st. We wish you a blessed Christmas season and a Happy New Year! December Birthdays 1 st Brandon Paltin 24 th Anita Morgan 5 th Jordan Beier 24 th Lois Bengtson 12 th Anita Klepps 25 th Gary Mathews 13 th Linda Graves 27 th Kelly Fredericks 17 th Hannah Schnirel 29 th Jean Theobald 21 st Angela Manning 30 th Monica Daniels 23 rd Susan Ritchie December Anniversaries 16 th Jack & Elaine Bray 19 th L. Peder & Karen Larson 29 th Corey & Erika Hall 30 th John & Sherrianne Larson We join in thanking God for His blessings in the past. We ask Him to keep you in His Grace and love in the future. If your birthday or anniversary was not listed or listed correctly, please contact the office. Lunch Bunch November and December lunch bunch will be suspended due to the busy holiday season. We will resume in January and look forward to seeing you all for good food, great fellowship and lots of fun! Have a blessed holiday season and we will see you next year for lunch! 6
ATTENDANCE INFORMATION STEWARDSHIP CORNER OCTOBER 2017 OCTOBER 2018 WORSHIP SERVICE TOTALS (AVERAGE) 97 111 7.77 My belief that perfect health happens when a human body reaches a ph of 7.77 gets stronger with every passing day. With the modern diet it is very hard to obtain and one reason is the low ph water we drink. My tap water is 7.0 as is most tap water. Impossible to get to 7.77 if everything you eat and drink are low. Hence all the health problems. The problem gets worse the more modern diet we ascribe to. Soda has a ph of 3. (Battery acid is 1) Beer 4. Wine is 4.5. Most meats 6. Most processed foods 6. Many drink expensive bottled water thinking it s healthy. Some are horrible and price means nothing. I have researched and tested dozens and detail the worse offenders and the best water to drink. Brand names and their ph. PENTA 4.00, VOSS 5.0, ETHOS 5.0, DASSANI 5.0, AQUAFINA 5.0, GREAT VALUE 5.0, LIFE WATER 5.0, PERRIER 6.0. Stay away from them! Then we have the other end of the scale. TEN 10.0 ph. ESSENTIA 9.5, ALKALINE 9.0, ETERNAL 8.5, ICELAND 8.4, and two surprises PUBLIX 8.0, WINDIXIE 8.0. So how do you get to 7.77 ph? Drinking high ph water seems to be part of it but also consuming fewer low ph items. It s the path I am on and so far my gout has disappeared and my arthritis is subsiding. My overall health has improved dramatically but only time will tell if my heart health has improved. My goal is 7.77! That s God s favorite number and next month I ll tell describe His worst. Joseph Laberge Trustee Being a church member for more than a decade I have always been amazed at how things get done here. A problem will come up and before you know it, BAM. It s fixed. So many silent warriors stepping forward to just do it. Paid for and done. Amazing. As the property gets used more needs seem to be needing a structure. Who, how and when. A short list is lights in the sanctuary and on the back driveway. Brush clearing, hedges trimmed. Mulching and parking lot lines painted. All are welcome to help and there usually are a few of us working the property on Monday mornings. November, Parking lot brush clearing, December, Lines painted, January, lights. February, mulching and hedges trimmed. All help is appreciated and welcome. Joseph Laberge 7
Good Shepherd Early Learning Center Christmas Gifts Help us send home a Bible for Christmas to each of the chldren at the Early Learning Center. The ACTION BIBLE The BEGINNER S BIBLE Aftercare children in Elementary School $14.00 VPK children and 3 year olds $8.00 MY FIRST READ-ALOUD BIBLE 2 year olds $10.50 The Early Learning Center would like to gift all of the children with an ageappropriate Bible this Christmas, so they can enjoy the stories they learn at school with their families using the same Bible that is used in class. If you would like to help, add some cash or a check in the plate, and note that it s for Bibles for the ELC.! THANK YOU! LOVE PACKAGES There is a group that collects and mails Christian literature to Mission fields all around the world. They use magazines, used Sunday school books, devotionals, bibles, all Christian literature and ship these to Kenya, Uganda & East Africa to Missionaries. There are 2 places that do this, Butler Illinois and Decatur Alabama. There are six categories, Bibles, reference materials, Sunday school literature, books magazines & daily devotionals, Music & DVD s. They sort and pack onto 20 foot shipping containers that holds 41,800 pounds at a cost of 10 cents a pound. If anyone has items they can donate, go to lovepackage.com or christianbook.com or call 217-532-6701. Jackie Elmore 8