Church Announcements - Take Home Page St. John s Lutheran Church - 13443 Townline Rd Green Valley, IL 61534 Phone: 309-348-3180 - www.sandprairielutheran.org OUR SERVICE FOR CHRIST - Week of May 4, 2014 Sunday 8:00 am Traditional Worship - Pastor Kevin Bueltmann May 4 9:00 am Fellowship - Parish Hall 9:30 am S.S. & Adult Bible Classes 10:45 am Contemporary Worship - Pastor Kevin Confirmation of 8th graders Monday May 5 7:00 pm Choir Tuesday 9:30 am Food Pantry May 6 6:30 pm Senior Elders' Meeting 6:30 pm Irreplaceable, the Movie - Pekin & Willow Knolls Wednesday May 7 6:30-7:45pm 7th Grade Confirmation Class Thursday 9:00 am CID DCE/Pastors' Meeting at Sand Prairie May 8 6:00 am FCI Bible Study 6:30 pm Rebekah Circle meets at Avanti's Saturday May 10 9:00 am Praise Team Practice Sunday 8:00 am Traditional Worship/HC - Pastor Dave Bueltmann May 11 Confirmands' First Communion Mother's Day 9:00 am Fellowship - Parish Hall 9:30 am S.S. & Adult Bible Classes 10:45 am Contemporary Worship/HC - Pastor Dave Confirmands' First Communion Baptism of Brianna Throener & Tyler Throener
HAPPENING TODAY! FELLOWSHIP TIME will be held in the parish hall following the 8am worship service. Please join us for refreshments. BIBLE CLASSES: Ralph Mickley is leading the Lifelight Study of the Gospel of Mark in the parish hall. Jim Fairchild continues a class in the memorial room this morning: "Running the Rapids" (Guiding Teenagers Through the Turbulent Waters of Adolescence); Church membership class led by Pastor Kevin and Ward Sirotak meets in the downstairs meeting room. CONFIRMATION - Fourteen young people will be confirmed in the 10:45 service today: Dylan Scott Becker Rachel Ann Bresnahan Brittany Nicole Clouse Kaylin Marissa Ehlers Paige Nicole Hicks Jeb Larimore Bailey Danielle Lay Caitlin Elizabeth LeCrone Ryan Michael Reader Madelyn Elizabeth Rose Singley Emily Stewart Kelsey Lynn Urish Samuel John Weimer Kyle Steven Worner Each will receive a prayer book from the congregation as a memento of their confirmation. They will celebrate their first communion on Mother's Day, May 11, in either service. Please welcome and pray for these new communicant members. THE NURSERY may be used as needed. The church service can be viewed on the TV in the nursery room. THE LIBRARY IS OPEN from 9:00-10:40am each Sunday. GREETING CARDS, provided by the Epiphany Society are available in the former library at a cost of $.60.
UPCOMING EVENTS! REBEKAH CIRCLE - Note change of place and time! We will meet this Thursday, May 8, at Avanti's at 6:30pm for dinner and fellowship. This will be our last meeting before our summer break. If anyone has any questions, or would like to join us for the evening, please call Christie Martis 264-4978. MILITARY BIBLESTICKS There is a ministry to our deployed troops that provides memory sticks with the Bible recorded on it for military personnel to listen to Scripture anywhere. In anticipation of Armed Forces Sunday, there will be a brief video explaining this ministry and a door offering on May 11th. NEW MEMBER WELCOME - On Sunday, May 18, we will be welcoming our new members with a reception during 9am fellowship time, and at a noon luncheon. Please join us for both! Meat and drinks will be provided for lunch; please bring a side dish to share. HIGH SCHOOL SENIORS will also be recognized on May 18 in a special "Stepping Forward in Life" milestone ministry. Each graduate will be given a blanket symbolic of the love of their parents, of the church community, and of the Lord, in a service designed to bring everyone back to the promises they made at their baptism. Each blanket has the confirmation verse, the date of baptism, and the name of the graduate. We ask that you pray for their venture and for the graduates and their families. Following the service everyone is invited to congratulate them in a reception line. PROMOTION SUNDAY AND BALLOON LAUNCH: On Sunday, May 25, all Sunday School kids, preschool through 7 th grade, will be promoted to the next grade for the summer with a special annual balloon launch. The high school and adult classes are invited to participate at the end of the Sunday School hour.
UPCOMING EVENTS! JUNE IS MISSIONS MONTH - The Stewardship & Missions committee has designated June again as our month to focus on missions to others. Here is the tentative list of guests to visit us on Sunday mornings: June 1 - LCC K-9 Comfort Dogs from Lutheran Church Charities June 8 - Micholas Salifu from Ghana, West Africa June 15 - Derek and Noemi Sinay from Servant Ministries, Guatemala June 22 - TBA June 29 - Rev. Walter Volz (Florida) - Food for the Poor VBS - "GANGWAY TO GALILEE" is the theme for this year's Vacation Bible School to be held Sunday, June 22 - Thursday, June 26 from 6-8:30pm each evening at GSLS. Volunteers are needed to help make this year a success! Nursery babysitting is available for volunteers. NEXT NEW MEMBER CLASS WILL BE HELD IN THE EVENINGS during Vacation Bible School at Good Shepherd. There will be a double session each night from 6-8:30pm in order to get through the ten sessions. Invite your friends! IRREPLACEABLE, THE MOVIE ON MAY 6 - What happened to the belief in traditional family? We know that family is important, but sometimes we struggle to describe why to a culture that seems to have forgotten. This new documentary by Focus on the Family New Zealand, will be in over 700 theaters nationwide for a 1-night event. It explores the answers to: What is family? and Does family still matter in today's society? Tickets may be purchased in advance for $12.50 for either Pekin 14 or Willow Knolls 14 in Peoria at http://www.irreplaceablethemovie.com/ HAVE YOU REGISTERED FOR SUMMER CAMP AT CILCA? - You can receive a discount of $10 if you register by May 1. Also, our local Thrivent Branch will provide $35 for each camper from our church. Contact the church office to claim this discount. Brochures are in the narthex or go to www.cilca.org.
NOTEWORTHY! PASTOR JOEL BRANDT DECLINES OUR CALL - Pastor Joel has been led by God to decline our call. He wrote to Pastor Kevin: "God's blessings to you and the people of St. John's as you continue on your search to find the pastor that God has chosen for you. I will keep you in my prayers. I will be praying that God would give you the encouragement and strength that you will need as you continue on in holding things together. I know how difficult that is and will be keeping you in my prayers." The Call Committee will continue its search for another pastor to meet the growing needs of our church and welcomes more names to be given to chairman, Jim Fairchild. VOLUNTEER TEACHER OF THE YEAR - On Sunday, April 27, 2014, Bill Anderson was presented a plaque by the Central Illinois District for being Volunteer Teacher of the Year. Thrivent Financial provided a reception for him at 9am and at noon he was honored by the congregation with a Panera Bread lunch brought in by Thrivent Financial Representative, Baird Woolsey. The Sunday School presented Mr. Bill with a plaque of fingerprints of all the children, youth, and adults who attended classes that morning. Mr. Bill has been a Sunday School teacher for over 50 years, and faithfully teaches the 5th grade class each week. In addition, he has taught Vacation Bible School, is a very dedicated choir member, has served as elder and on various committees, serves as a mentor to young confirmands, and is faithful in worship attendance. Thank you, Mr. Bill, for all the contributions you make in our congregation, but especially we appreciate your love for children. FOOD PANTRY is asking for donations of canned vegetables during the month of May. Please leave your food donations on the stage in the parish hall. As always, monetary donations are equally appreciated.
CENTRAL ILLINOIS DISTRICT NEWS CENTRAL ILLINOIS DISTRICT SCHOLARSHIP SUNDAY - TODAY Please make a generous gift through your local congregation or you may mail your gift directly to the district office, 1850 N. Grand Avenue West, Springfield, Il 62702-1626, using an envelope available in the narthex. Make your checks payable to Central Illinois District Educational Scholarship Fund. This year, gifts may be designated for use to help support students during the upcoming 2014-2015 school year, or they may be designated to be added to the Endowment Fund where interest earned will be used to help future students for years to come. It seems like no one is able to get much of a guaranteed return on their investments lately. Passbook rates are less than.1%, CDs yield less than 1%, even 30 year bonds yield less than 3%. So where can I get a good return on my investment? you may be asking. My suggestion: How about investing in future pastors, teachers, and other professional church workers with a gift to the scholarship fund? Their return to the church will be tremendous and immeasurable: babies baptized, children taught the saving Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Lord s Supper given, sins forgiven in Jesus name, weddings and funerals performed, the Gospel preached, and God will be glorified. You now have an opportunity to invest in the training of future pastors and teachers by making a gift to the Central Illinois District Scholarship Foundation. You and the entire church will reap big rewards. LUTHERAN EARLY RESPONSE TEAM (LERT) TRAINING - on May 17 in Springfield or August 9 in Washington. This 6 hour training event will equip you to be an effective volunteer should a disaster strike communities in our area. Both events will be $35 and held on a Saturday at Lutheran churches named Our Savior from 8am-4:30pm. Registration forms available at www.cidlcms.org or in the church office.
GOOD SHEPHERD LUTHERAN SCHOOL AMAZON SMILES - GSLS has registered with Amazon for their Amazon Smiles program. Amazon Smiles donates 0.5% to our school on all qualifying purchases. To register, go to smile.amazon.com. Log in with your existing Amazon account (or create one if you do not have one) and then search for and select Tazewell Lutheran School Association as your charity. COUNT DOWN - GSLS will be counting down the last days of school by assigning each day a letter. H Monday, May 5th H is for HAT DAY Wear your favorite hat. I Tuesday, May 6th I is for ICE CREAM DAY Enjoy! J Wednesday, May 7th J is for JAMMIE DAY Wear your favorite jammies. K Thursday, May 8th K is for KICKBALL DAY Class competitions! L Friday, May 9th L is for LAUGH DAY Think of a favorite joke to share! PRESCHOOL GRADUATION will be held on May 27 at 6:30pm. CONGRATULATIONS to the young people who will be graduating from Good Shepherd this year, including our members, Rachel Bresnahan, Brittany Clouse, Kaylin Ehlers, Paige Hicks, Caitlin LeCrone, and Emily Stewart. Eighth grade graduation is May 28 at 6:30pm.
CHURCH OFFICE Office hours 9am-3pm Mon-Thurs Office: (309) 348-3180 Pastor Kevin Bueltmann PastorKevin@SandPrairieLutheran.org Cell: (309) 613-4884 DCE William Krueger DCEBill@SandPrairieLutheran.org Cell: (309) 642-1818 Secretaries: Deb & Leslie Secretary@SandPrairieLutheran.org Office: (309) 348-3180 GSLS Principal: Joel Kilgus jkilgus@goodshepherdpekin.com School: (309)347-2020 Prayer Request Contact: lutz2726@comcast.net Anita: (309) 346-1024 OUR DISCIPLESHIP FOR JESUS: Attendance last week: 04/27/2014 Sunday Worship 85 + 143 = 228 Sunday School: 51 Adults + 36 Students + 6 Teens + 16 Teachers & Staff = 109 Offering for Congregational expenses 4/27/14: $8396.00 ($9,843 needed weekly) ALTAR FLOWERS: Are given to the glory of God by the Epiphany Society. PULPIT FLOWERS: Are given to the glory of God by Rosalie Baker and family in memory of Harold Baker's birthday (April 29). WE REMEMBER IN PRAYER: Members who have prolonged health problems: Ann Cargill, Fran Flexsenhar, Bill Furrow, Ron Friedrich, Tammy Glass, Brenda Gosteli, Janet Heston, Donna Hoehn, Christa Kohl, Heinrich Kohl, Billy Moore, Lin Reaves, Josephine Ripper, Todd Weiland. Relatives or friends of our members: Ron Garlish (Terry's father), Susan Garlish (Terry s mother), Jessie Hasty (Jenny Schaefer's father), Floyd Montgomery, Wendell Nolting (Robin Garlish s father). Military Personnel: Travis Banks, Nicholas Barth, Nathan Barth, Nathan Hoehn, Cameron Jones, Adam McGinnis (nephew of Alan & Kim Hall), Holly Newing, Derek Lutz, Victoria (Lutz) Wayne, Christopher and Ryan Nolan, Matt and Mark Sidell, and Tanner Zeck.