Confession of Faith How could Luther and many other Christians confess their faith so boldly even at the threat of physical harm and death? Because they knew that something much better was waiting for them after this life. They knew that Jesus died for their sins and rose from the dead. Jesus resurrection meant that God accepted his sacrifice for their sins and they too would rise to live forever in heaven. If you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. - Romans 10:9 Did you ever wonder what made the early Christians willing to confess their faith in Jesus even when it brought persecution and death? Some Christians in the first century were stoned to death. Others were crucified. Still others were thrown to the lions. Yet they died praising Jesus, confessing him as their Lord and Savior. Christians still have this hope today. We know this life is temporary. Nothing in this life is going to last. It will all eventually decay and perish. But those who trust in Jesus and confess him as their Lord and Savior will enjoy a perfect life with him that will never end. This changes the perspective and priorities of believers in Jesus. Confident in their eternal salvation through Jesus, Christians confess their faith in the Lord Jesus even to the point of death. In the centuries that followed, believers in Jesus continued preaching and teaching about him even at the threat of physical harm. One such man was Martin Luther who lived in Germany back in the 1500 s. Luther boldly preached and taught about Jesus and became one of the most prolific writers about the Christian faith who has ever lived. When the authorities pressured him to take back what he had written, Luther firmly replied, Here I stand. I cannot do otherwise. God help me. Amen! As a result, he was labeled an outlaw and it was open season for anyone who wanted to take his life. Come worship with us and learn more about what confessing Christians throughout the ages have been willing to die for. Jesus is your Savior who came into this world to die and rise again so that you might live with him forever. 1
Church Council Chairman - Glen Wales Secretary Eric Oakland Elders - Bruce Budahn Education - vacant Finance - Dave McKenzy Stewardship Comm. - Jerry Knickel Building & Grounds vacant Evangelism Comm. - vacant CHURCH CARDS AND NAPKINS Calendars for 2018 are available. Cards with a Scripture message, such as Sympathy, Get Well, Birthday, Baby cards, Secret Pal and Wedding, are on display and are for sale in the church entryway. Napkins are also available. Please fill out envelope, place total inside and drop the envelope in the offering plate, or give to Joan Tjernagel! Thank you!! Delegates St. Croix LHS - Glen Wales St. Croix LHS - Curt Boogren Camp Croix Curt Boogren District & Conference Delegate Jerry Knickel SCRIP Another easy and free way to support St. Andrew s is by using scrip cards. They are gift cards that you can purchase and St. Andrew s gets a percentage of whatever you order. We send in scrips the 2nd Sunday of each month. It's very simple. Order on Sunday and cards are generally back on Wednesday in time for church. This is a great way to get gift cards for Christmas, or to make purchases as you do your holiday shopping. If you have any questions please ask Cheryl Knickel. (651-455-2452) MEMBERSHIP CHANGES In Glory Rollie Dohrn Sr. SUPPORT US FOR FREE In addition to regular offerings, there are opportunities to support St. Andrew's and Little Lambs at no cost to you! We collect Box Tops, milk caps, Cambell s soup labels, aluminum cans, and more. Complete details can be found in the church entryway, or ask Pastor for a flyer. Please note that there will no longer be a special day for can collection. You may bring bags of cans anytime at your convenience to pastor s back yard, preferably near the shed. NEW CHURCH ENVELOPES For those of you who use envelopes for your offerings, we will be putting the 2018 envelopes out at the end of November by the mailboxes. Please remember to pick yours up, and also to wait until 2018 to begin using the new envelopes. Using envelopes helps keep your offerings private, and also helps our treasurer return accurate information to you when tax season comes. 2
ELECTRONIC OFFERING DEPOSITS LADIES GUILD For Thanksgiving Day flowers this year we are asking you to purchase your own mum plant or other Fall plant- size and color are your choice. Bring to church on Sunday, November 19th. The plants will be arranged on the altar. You may pick up your plant after the Thanksgiving Services. Thank you. If you have any questions please contact Kim Boogren (651-458-5956) Another great way to send in your offerings is by signing up for electronic transfers from your checking account. It is a good way for you to get into a regular giving habit, especially if you tend to forget to bring your checkbook to church. This system also keeps your information private, and helps our treasurer give accurate giving statements back to you at tax season. If you would like more information on this, please contact David McKenzy. Adopt a Family The Christmas season is almost here, and it is the perfect time to think about helping those in need! Our congregation will once again adopt a New Day family to shower with gifts for Christmas. Responses have been very generous in past years, so we are looking forward to providing this outpouring of Christian love again this year. Watch the narthex for tree with the tags for the gifts and gift card suggestiions starting Thanks giving week. Any questions please contact Jan Langness. We have been very busy in Preschool! We learned about pumpkins and where they grow. We even got to touch the inside of the pumpkins and taste the seeds! We disguised some turkeys so they wouldn't be eaten for Thanksgiving! Check them out in our hallway. You are invited to join us for our Christmas service, "Come and See; Go and Tell" on Wednesday, December 20th at 11 a.m. There will be some light refreshments following the service. We would love to celebrate our Savior's birth with you! Have a blessed Christmas! Address: 1200 Oakdale, Ave, West St. Paul Phone: (651) 455-1521 SCL Business Directory SCL wants to hear about your business! The SCL business directory is shared with the constituents of St. Croix Lutheran Academy In Christ, Mrs. Nikki Grunwald 3
and provides opportunities for networking and support of local businesses. Visit https://goo.gl/wmsqkg to be added to the directory. 2756 Lake Shore Avenue, Little Canada, MN 55117 Phone: 651-917-4149 Thrift Store hours: Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 10 AM 4 PM 10 AM 4 PM 10 AM 4 PM 10 AM 7 PM 10 AM 3 PM 10 AM 3 PM THRIFT STORE A New Day Thrift Store in Little Canada is always in need of volunteer help from lifeaffirming Christian men and women to help us keep the store going receiving donated items, preparing them for resale, helping shoppers, etc. Youth groups, ladies' organizations, friends, and neighbors can volunteer as a group. It's a great way for retirees and stay-at-home parents to get out and enjoy fun with other Christians. It's also a great way for high school students to get service hours. December s session will be a Birthday party for Jesus! We d like to offer this session free to increase the potential for additional attendees to this important event. If you know of someone who may be interested in attending, direct them to our website at www.standrewslutheran.org/morningswithmommy. (There will be no session on December 19th) The store sells and accepts donations of clothing, household items and a variety of other goods. If you have a few bags of items for the Thrift Store, put them in the fellowship hall and label them. Jan Langness will take them to the store. The proceeds are used for this ministry. Volunteers are also needed to help with the work. The cutting brigade has been VERY effective so far: keep up the good work! Other items we are currently seeking out are: a plastic tea set, and religious Christmas stickers. Check your bulletins for more ways to get 4
involved! For more information, contact Hannah Schneider at 651-503-5225. 6:30. Hope to see you there! Secret Pal Are you looking for a way to encourage a fellow sister in Christ but are not sure how? Secret Pals is the perfect means to do so! We will be reviving this oldie but goodie program as a means of strengthening our connections to each other and encouraging each other in the faith. Any woman of the congregation is invited to participate. Informational sheets about yourself (birthday, interests, hobbies, etc.) will be available in the narthex and can be returned any time up until church time on December 3rd. We will then draw the names of our Secret Pals at Christmas by Candlelight and begin showering each special lady with Christian love throughout the coming year. You can participate even if you cannot attend the Christmas by Candlelight festivities! Please consider joining in this fun activity as a way to encourage and learn more about your sisters in Christ! BUILDING UPDATES St. Andrew s has several building updates coming. Dave DeMars recently replaced the water heater in the parsonage for us. Thank you! We also got a leaky toilet fixed, and the floor drain cleared in the parsonage. By God s grace, we are planning to update our doors for fire safety codes, upgrade our sanctuary lighting, fix a leak in the sacristy, fix the concrete in our church entryway, install air conditioning in the sanctuary, update our sound system, and install a handicap accessible button on our school door. We do have funds in savings for many of these projects already, but you are still free to give toward any of them that you would like. LADIES BIBLE STUDY We will begin a new 4-session study called My Son My Savior on November 30th. This study offers a look at faith and eternal hope. If this interests you, join us Thursdays at 10:30 am in the parsonage. CHOIR We are preparing for the upcoming festival season. We welcome all people of all voices and abilities who love to praise the Lord in song. We rehearse Monday evenings at 5
MORTGAGE DEBT St. Andrew s originated a $300,000 loan back in 1991. Since then we made steady progress, with some ups and downs. In the summer of 2014 we refinanced and combined our previous mortgage, previous line of credit, street repair bill, and our roof repairs, which put us at $186,000. Since then we have been aggressively attacking our debt reduction and are at the lowest amount of debt St. Andrew s has seen in decades. We have less than $100k left, and are on track to be debt free in about 2 ½ years. This year we pray you come and give thanks with us to God for all his blessings. There are so many reasons that each of us have to thank God. He gives us our homes, our families, our jobs, and our lives. All we are and all we have comes from him. If you would like to join us for worship, we have two services for Thanksgiving this year. One is Wednesday, November 22nd at 7:00 PM. The other is Thursday, November 23rd at 9:00 AM. The services are the same, so you will want to choose to come to one or the other. 6
7:00. It is a special time of evening prayer and meditation on God s Word. This year, our theme is: A Savior is Comes! Come and learn how to prepare properly for Christ s coming. Support our St. Andrew s Troops We will be taking an opportunity to support troops serving at home and abroad by signing cards at our Advent fellowship meals this December. Please also take time to pray for these brave young men and thank God for their service to our country. As we prepare for Advent and Christmas, please take time, if you can, to help us decorate our church for the season. This year we will have our decorating party on Saturday, December 2nd at 2 PM. It will be lots of fun! Advent Meals In connection with our midweek Advent services, you are also invited to come and enjoy a meal with us between worship services at 5:15 PM. The meals are offered freely, but you may leave a donation if you wish. The Ladies Guild will be providing a hot dish dinner on December 6th. You may donate desserts for that meal. The Schneiders will be providing soup and cake on the 13th in celebration of Ruth s birthday. You may donate side dishes for that meal. And the choir is planning on providing the meal on the 20th. Please bring a dessert to that meal if you can. Please also sign up for the meals in the church lobby by the mailboxes so that we know how many people to plan on feeding. Advent Sunday Worship Join us for our Advent festivities as we prepare to celebrate how our Savior came into this world. Advent begins on December 3rd this year. There will be a special Advent song service held on Sunday, December 10 th where we will take special time to remember God s Old Testament promises through song. Advent Midweek Worship You are also invited to join us for our midweek Advent services, either at 4:30 or at 7
Christmas Worship New Year s Worship Consider joining us for worship on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day as we celebrate our Savior s birth. Christmas Eve worship will be held at 9:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. Christmas Day worship will be at 9:00 a.m. Each of the three services will be unique, and you are invited to attend all of them. Bring your family and invite your friends! This is a great time to reconnect with God and with other Christians. There will also be a special New Year s worship service on December 31st at 6:00 PM and held again on January 1st at 9:00 am. These services will be the same, so plan to come to one or the other. Also, since New Year s Eve falls on a Sunday this year, we will have two services on New Year s Eve. The morning service will not be a New Year s celebration, but a continuation of our Christmas celebration. There are, after all, 12 days of Christmas. 8