Sharing the Gospel in a Changed World! St. John Lutheran Church & Preschool 122 Cheyenne Mesa Hamilton, TX 76531 Phone: (254) 386-3158 Preschool (254) 386-3332 Fax: (254) 386-3159 Pastor pastorreich@gmail.com Secretary stjohnlutheranoffice@gmail.com Preschool stjohnlutheranpreschool@gmail.com Youth Coordinator youthstjohnlutheran@gmail.com Website: www.stjohnhamilton.org May we continue to be used by God and share the Gospel with A Heart for Hamilton County and the World!! I have said it, you have said it and we have all heard it; The world is not the same as it once was. Many years ago, one could invite people to church and they would respond. People would actually turn to the church for answers and help. A new church would be built and people would flock to the doors. What has changed? What has caused this lack of response to the Gospel saving message of Jesus Christ? While there are many factors that could be discussed, there are two that really stand out. Generations ago, when one said the word God, most people understood that it was the God of the Bible who created the world and everything in it. Jesus would have also been understood as the Son of God who came into the world to save sinners. Today people have multiple god s in mind when one says God. If Jesus is mentioned, at best people might recognize him as a good man. So the first dilemma Christians are faced with is the fact that more and more people no longer have the understanding that the God we speak about is the creator God of the Bible and that Jesus is the Son of God who came into the world as a man to save people from their sins. The second challenge that we are faced with is generations ago most people understood that they were sinners and needed someone to rescue them. Today, most people will not respond to call of repentance because that do not see or know of anything they need to repent of. Said another way, if someone suggested that they need a Savior, they would not have a clue as to what they need to be saved from. According to Ken Ham in his book Gospel Reset, these two foundational truths of Christianity are gone, but yet the church still tries to do Gospel outreach as if these two foundational truths are still understood by a majority of the people. The church and Christians do a good job at telling people about Jesus and what He has done for them, but we are failing in the area of telling them why they need Him which is the foundation. We have to go back to the first three chapters in Genesis where we see the perfect creation of God, the fall into sin of Adam and Eve, the corruption that this brought upon all of creation and all people from that time forward and the promise of a Savior, Jesus, who would come and rescue people from their sins. May God give us the desire and passion to seek Him daily as we continue to share the message of our risen Savior with A Heart for Hamilton County and the World!
Anniversaries 1st Johnny & Marliessa Clark 47 yrs Allen & Jane Dodson 52 yrs 2nd Bradley & Stephanie Batla 8 yrs 9th Doug & Tammy Wagner 25 yrs 13th Jason & Kimberly Clark 11 yrs 16th Mark & Sabrina Sellers 19 yrs 17th Robert and Dorothy Hoerman 59 yrs John & Dorothy Schoedel 26 yrs 24th Eugene & Alice Jeschke 54 yrs 27th Ricky & Laverne Brown 34 yrs 30th Clayton & Danna Hurst 14 yrs Upcoming October Event 1st 6:30p - Preschool Board 7th - 7:15a - Men s Club 1:30p - Nursing Home Devotions 8th - 6:30p - Bd of Elders 9th - 1:00p - Glory Gamester 5:30 p Board of Finance 14th- 11:15a - Bd of Trustees Bd of Ed/Youth 15th 6:30p Council Meeting 20th LWML Zone Rally 22nd Voters Meeting 23rd - 8:00a Ministerial Alliance Meeting 28th 11:15 Harvest Fessival Birthdays 1 st Milton Bottlinger, Kathleen Payne 2nd Deloris Stanford, Jayson Watson 3rd Stanley Stanford 4th Lona Coble 5th Roger Bushee, Annie DeLeon, Roy Seider 6th Charlie Bottlinger 8th Jessika Martin 9th Danny Crouch, Darrell Wagner 10th Jimmy Schrank 11th Alicia Hall, Juanita Seider 12th Klayton Kensing 14th Don Arnett, Ricky Brown, Tammy Wagner, Kay Zschiesche 15th Calvin Friedrich, Gunner McElroy, Reagan Reich, Kayla Tawater, Connie White 16th Alice Jeschke, Erica Massingill 18th John Hall, Cooper LeGrande, Angelita Tawater 19th Tina Ellis 20th John Parks 21st Jonathan Hurst 22nd Sandy Hall 23rd Doug Wagner 25th John Polster, Lee Roy Tyson 26th Harry Asquith, Andrew Chorenziak, Tracy Wenzel 28th Kaymden Martin, Bert Schrank 29th Patrick Roberts. Baptisms 5th Mason Code 6th Joshua Cantara 8th Norma Marwitz 16th Carolinz De La Garza 20th Roy Seider 24th Kirsten Niemann 25th Ryder Zschiesche 27th Susie Odom 28th Kathy Christensen, Danny Crouch 31st Milton Bottlinger, Nathan Hall 2
Opening/Breakfast Sundays 8:30am Sunday School Sundays 9:00am Church Worship Sundays 10:00am Quilting Tuesdays 9:00am Wednesdays After School Youth 4:00pm Men s Bible Study Thursdays 6:30am Moms In Prayer Thursdays 8:00am BUILDING FUND $ 230,000 $ 200,000 $ 150,000 $ 100,000 $ 50,000 $ 10,384 Current Our Military & Families: Travis Beach, Austin Beckner, Nick Cantara, Josh Chorenziak, Anthony French, Charles Gonce, Lauren Jeffers, Matthew Medina, Ernie Mendez, Payden Nolen, John Park, Jordan Ratliff, Logan Selman, Richard Sepolio, John Slough, Warren Stanley, Micah Stork, Keith Voges, Garrett White, Scott Williams Our Homebound & Nursing Facilities: Dove Hill: Kendra Code, Jean Ranney, Lillye Sanders, Larry Stamberger, Maxine Wenzel Hamilton Health Care: Mildred Kauitzsch, Melinda Rogers, Leamon & Lydia Wagner Sr. Care Center, Stephenville: Ruth Young The Meadows, Gatesville: Faye Senger Homebound: Louis & Frances Donahoo, Albert & Artie Peters, Mae Pietzsch, Ruth Reneau, Frances Schrank Ricky Brown - dealing with neck, breathing & other health issues Frances Donahoo - dealing with heart & other health issues Louis Donahoo - dealing with heart & other health issues Gary Gromatzky - dealing with nerve damage in back Norma Marwitz - Dealing with cancer Brenda Schrank - superficial bladder cancer Barbara Wiedebusch - surgery was successful on her toe; recovering at her daughter s Theresa Williams - dealing with seizures and various health issues Oralia Alvarado - (Angie Tawater s mother) health issues Noland Arbaugh - family friend of Darryl & Mischelle Beach, returned home due to finance issues. Pray for courage and provision to finish his degree and live independently. Molly Beach - niece of Darryl & Michelle Beach suffering from an auto-immune disease & other health issues Layla Evetts - 6yr old diagnosed with an DIPG tumor. Completed 3 rd round of chemo. MRI scheduled for the end of September Leona Fulton - (Tootie Schoen s mother) recovering at Hamilton Health Care Paul & Edith Gates - (Clark Pumphries Grandparents) hospitalized she has blood clots in her lungs..he is waiting for tests for possible blockage Danny Horton - (Jimmie Horton s brother) moved to rehab facility; showing some improvement slowly Donna Isensee - (daughter of Dorothy Schoedel ) knee replacement Carolyn May - friend of Pat Crouch recovering from massive stroke Henrietta Medina - liver count went up. Changing medication Aaron Moore - recovering from heart surgery Renee Pietzsch - (Jerome & Alice s daughter-in-law) surgery was successful in removing tumor from liver; doctor said they got all cancer Theresa Schoen - (Gary & Dennis Schoen s sister-in-law) diagnosed with stage 3 illness; is doing better Ossie Scott - (Doyle Robert s sister) undergoing treatments for cancer Pat Thompson - having health issues For those who grieve: the family of Raymond Wenzel the family of Connie Courtney Special Prayers: Rain; Teachers & Students; President & Government Officials (local, state & 3 federal) Please contact the church office with updates on prayer requests for friends and loved ones.
Finance Update Memorials Given in Memory of Margie Seider: General Fund: Robert Dellaughter Memorials Given in Memory of Raymond Wenzel General Fund: Robert & Dorothy Hoermann, Roseann Hall, Dudley Kelm, Ward and Linda Richmond, Tom and Connie White, Stephen Burkett R. Keith and Lisa Steward, Jane and Darman Wagner Building Fund: Bert Schrank 4
The Eagle October 2018 MEN S CLUB Sunday morning services can be heard on The Men s Club meets on the 1 Sunday of the month. Join us Sunday, Oct. 7 at 7:15 am for the Men s Club meeting and to help make sausage and pancakes for breakfast. st Wednesday evenings at 6:30 pm Sunday mornings at 7:30 am Thursdays @ 8:00am Senior Youth Room Contact: Mischelle Beach cell: 512-660-2325 email: mbeach1962@me.com Joyful Response Our congregation offers you a way to respond joyfully in meeting your stewardship commitments Use Joyful Response to: * Give consistently. * Help you prepare and fulfill your stewardship plans. * Share your generosity efficiently and predictably. ****Forms can be found in the church office**** A new non-profit organization that has been formed with the goal of providing safe, comfortable and reliable transportation for Cancer patients and their caregivers to and from Houston. Tentative schedule is 10:30 am Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday outbound to Houston from Hamilton and Monday, Wednesday and Friday inbound from Houston arriving at 4:50 pm. Pick-up and drop-off location has not been determined at this point. If anyone in our congregation would like to volunteer on these days and times, we could possibly be the pick-up and drop-off location. If you are interested in St. John being a part of this and possibly overseeing this, please contact the church office and let us know. For further information you can go to www.drivinghopetexas.org. 5
The Eagle October 2018 St John Ruth Guild No Ruth Guild meeting in October. Quilters can still use any scraps of material, old sheets etc. 6
TO everyone who helped with the filling of pew cards, sharpened pencils, set up for funerals, the 5th Quarter, in the office, our Wednesday afternoon program and so much more. Big Thank you to everyone who has responded to the email regarding the updates to the church records. Your help is greatly appreciated. Lois Hungerford Administrative Assistant Special Thank You to Elaine Polster For decorating our hay bale for the Library expansion fund raiser! Donations can be made at the library or participating retailers. Don t Forget!! Don t Forget : Voters Annual Meeting Annual Monday, Voters October Meeting 22 Monday, October 6:30 PM 22. 6:30 PM Ruth Guild met Sunday, September 23, immediately following the church service. Kathy Meissner gave a program on hurricane relief from Hurricane Harvey in the Houston area. Trinity Lutheran Church in Clifton has been part of that relief. It was a great program on the ongoing need in that area. Claudia Skocpol gave the devotion on kindness. Lunch was provided by Mischelle Bottlinger. The quilters have completed 134 quilts for world relief and delivered 4 children quilts to the Rainbow Room. Ruth Guild will be purchasing a new microwave for the FLC kitchen. We will not have a meeting in October. Instead we will be helping with the annual Fall Festival following the church service on Sunday, October 28. Remember everyone is invited to be a part of this missionary league. Hope to see you there! 7
Music Notes by: Gary Gromatzky Count Your Blessings When upon life s billows You are tempest tossed When you are discouraged Thinking all is lost. Count your many blessings, Name them one by one And it will surprise you What the Lord hath done.. Are you ever burdened With a load of care, Does the cross seem heavy You are called to bear? Count your many blessings Every doubt will fly And you will be singing As the days go by. When you look at others With their lands and gold, Think that Christ has promised You His wealth untold. Count your many blessings Money cannot buy Your reward in heaven Nor your home on high. So amid the conflict Whether great or small Do not be discouraged God is over all Count your many blessings Angels will attend, Help and comfort give you To your journey s end. Count Your Blessings 1897 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. James 1:17 It s impossible to be thankful and, at the same time, grumpy, cantankerous, critical, or ill-tempered. That s a lesson Johnson Oatman wanted to teach young people in his song, Count Your Blessings. Johnson was born in New Jersey just before the Civil War. His father had a powerful voice which some people claimed was the best singing voice in the East. That s why, as a boy, Johnson, Jr., always wanted to stand beside his father in church. When Johnson was a young man, he stood alongside his father in another way. He became a partner in Johnson Oatman & Son, his dad s mercantile business. At age 19, Johnson joined the Methodist Episcopal Church and was ordained into the ministry. He often preached, but Johnson never entered the fulltime pastorate, for he enjoyed the business world and found it paid his bills, giving him freedom to minister without cost. In 1892, with his father s voice undoubtedly ringing in his memory, Johnson began writing hymns. He averaged 200 hymns and gospel songs a year 5,000 during the course of his lifetime, among them: Higher Ground, No, Not One, The Last Mile of the Way, and this one, Count Your Blessings, which was published in a song book for young people in 1897. It Reflected Johnson s optimistic faith, and has been a lesson to many every since. ***** Martin Luther wrote in his book, Table Talk: The greater God s gifts and works, the less they are regarded. We tend to exhibit a degree of thanksgiving in reverse proportion to the amount of blessings we ve received. A hungry man is more thankful for his morsel than a rich man for his heavilyladen table. A lonely woman in a nursing home will appreciate a visit more that a popular woman with a party thrown in her honor. If the birds only burst into song once a year, we d all pay close attention. But because they are singing every morning, we scarcely bother to listen. Now is a good time to lay this book aside and deliberately thank God for something you ve never before mentioned in thanksgiving. Count your blessings. Name them one by one. And it will surprise you what the Lord has done. May the Good Lord bless and keep every one of you this coming month, God Bless 8 you. PS: We still have openings in the choir, please consider joining us praise our Savior.
The Eagle October 2018 SAVE THE DATE! Be included in our new church family directory 9
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St. John Lutheran Church & Preschool 122 Cheyenne Mesa Hamilton, Texas 76531 12