August 28, 2016

THOUGHTS ON STEWARDSHIP:  Luke 14:11: “For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”  The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: that’s called humility.  The Lord is God and we are not. With that in mind, how could we not seek to follow His Word in all aspects of life?  He knows what He is talking about and we don’t.  If you believe that, then striking out on a path of faithfulness in the realm of stewardship is a lot easier: it just makes sense.

TODAY:  In our 10:30 worship service the Lord will be blessing Jerzey Lynn Kleiboeker through the waters of Holy Baptism.  Jerzey is the daughter of Ryan and Katie, and sibling to Cruz, Phoenix, and Cannon.  Jerzey’s Godparents are Julie Tevis and Bryon Sheppelman.

TODAY IS OUR ANNUAL CHURCH PICNIC at 12:00 p.m. at Tipton Trails Park in Bloomington.  Join your fellow members in this fellowship event.

FROM THE OFFICE:  As of this past Tuesday, August 23^rd,  Pastor, Toni, Karson, and Holden will no longer have their land line phone (309) 821-0512.  Pastor can be reached on his cell phone (309) 838-0306 or at church (309) 662-8905.  If he is unavailable, please be sure to leave a message and he will get back to you.  You can also text Pastor if you have something that doesn’t need a response (he’s trying to go to his grave having not texted!)  For an emergency contact or text response you can reach Toni (309)530-8666. Pastor’s e-mail: revbci@yahoo.com is another point of contact and he does respond to those!  A moment of silence as we leave this piece of Americana behind – “Sarah, get me Sheriff Taylor.”

GOOD SHEPHERD’S BLOOD DRIVE:  Online scheduling is now available for Good Shepherd’s Blood Drive.  The gift of life can be given on Tuesday, September 20^th, from 2-6:00 p.m. in the church basement.  Go to: redcrossblood.org and enter in your zip code, then follow the prompts.        You may also sign-up on the table in the narthex.  Thank you for helping your fellow man/woman who need this God given resource.

FROM THE OFFICE:  If your son or daughter is going away to college or they no longer live at home, please fill out an Information Sheet located on the table in the narthex.  As their church home, we like to stay in contact during these important years by sending them Pastor’s Sermon and the monthly Church Newsletter.  Please return the form to Sandy in the church office when completed.  We lift our young people up in prayer as their spiritual journey continues.

LUTHERAN WORLD RELIEF SCHOOL KITS:  It’s that time again for the LWML’s Project Lutheran World Relief Health Kits.  We need your help in filling the Health Kits with the following items:  36 Bars of Soap; 6 Toothbrushes; 36 Fingernail Clippers; and 18 Combs (No picks please).  Any questions please see or call Joann Hart (309) 310-9205.  Thank you for your help!

FELLOWSHIP HOSTS:  The sign-up for help with coffee/doughnuts is posted on the wall by the north stairwell.  We need an individual/family to sign-up each week to pick up the donuts and make the coffee.  If no one is signed up by Friday of each week, the order will be cancelled.  We thank everybody who continues to help with this part of our church fellowship.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS for the annual Camp CILCA Chicken Fry and Auction NEXT SUNDAY,  September 4, 2016!   The day begins with worship at 10:30 a.m.  Lunch will be served from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. with the live Auction beginning at 1:00 p.m.  Auction items include quilts, gift baskets, homemade fudge, gift cards, and a picnic table hand-decorated by the 2016 High School Week campers and counselors.  Thirty plus campsites are available for tents, trailers, and RV’s.  Join other Camp CILCA supporters for a weekend of camping and fellowship.  If you would like to donate an item for auction, please contact the Camp office at (217) 487-7497.

THE LUTHERAN HOUR:  “Choose Life” is the topic for next Sunday.  The sermon text will be from Deuteronomy 30:15-20.  In Christ, you have been called God’s friend.  Now you get to befriend others in His Name.  Reverend Dr. Gregory Seltz is the speaker.  Hear this Sunday’s message on the Lutheran Hour on WGN (720) at 6:00 a.m.; WJWR (104.7 FM) and WJWR (90.3 FM) both on Sunday at 3:00 p.m.  Also, if you can receive Lincoln, IL radio station WLLM (1370 AM) the program is broadcast two times on Sunday at 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m.  Tune in!  You can also listen to The Lutheran Hour on your personal computer at RealAudio, www.lhm.org.

PRAYER CHAIN:  If you have a prayer request please submit them by email to Mary Anne Kirchner at makirchner@yahoo.com or you may phone a Prayer Request to Mary Anne; her home # is (309) 661-6522; her cell phone# is (309) 532-2582.  The Prayer Request box is on the table in the narthex for any written requests.

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August 21, 2016

THOUGHTS ON STEWARDSHIP:  Luke 13:26:  “Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’”  Proximity to Jesus and the things of faith is not faith itself.  Many Pharisees heard His Word – but ignored it, refused to believe in it.  We want to be not only hearers, but doers of Jesus’ Word. We want not just proximity to Jesus, but true communion with Him.  We want to hear Him, follow Him, praise Him, and return thanks.

THE ADULT BIBLE CLASS, meeting in the basement at 9:15 a.m. begins a new DVD based study: “Jesus – Legend of Lord?”  The class features LC-MS Author and Scholar Dr. Paul Maier discussing History and Archaeology and how it all fits with the Holy Scriptures.

SUMMER SUNDAY SCHOOL PROGRAM: MISSIONS AROUND THE WORLD:  This summer we will be learning about new countries, cultures and foods from around the world, as we learn about Baptism, the Lord’s Prayer, Confession and Communion.  Today’s lesson will focus on “Acts 2:42”.  Please join us in the church basement in the Youth Area at 9:15 a.m.

TODAY is the deadline for items to be submitted for the SEPTEMBER NEWSLETTER.  Mandy Kluender is our Editor for the church newsletter and any announcements you want to be published in the Newsletter should be submitted to her at mgkluender@hotmail.com or you may call her at (309) 838-9868.

GOOD SHEPHERD’S ANNUAL CHURCH PICNIC is NEXT SUNDAY, August 28^th at 12:00 p.m. at Tipton Trails Park in Bloomington.  Please sign-up on the sign-up sheet located on the table in the narthex if you are planning to attend.  Thank you.

FROM THE OFFICE:  If your son or daughter is going away to college or they no longer live at home, please fill out an Information Sheet located on the table in the narthex.  As their church home, we like to stay in contact during these important years by sending them Pastor’s Sermon and the monthly Church Newsletter.  Please return the form to Sandy in the church office when completed.  We lift our young people up in prayer as their spiritual journey continues.

LUTHERAN WORLD RELIEF SCHOOL KITS:  It’s that time again for the LWML’s Project Lutheran World Relief Health Kits.  We need your help in filling the Health Kits with the following items:  36 Bars of Soap; 6 Toothbrushes; 36 Fingernail Clippers; and 18 Combs (No picks please).  Any questions please see or call Joann Hart (309) 310-9205.  Thank you for your help!

FELLOWSHIP HOSTS:  The sign-up for help with coffee/doughnuts is posted on the wall by the north stairwell.  We need an individual/family to sign-up each week to pick up the donuts and make the coffee.  If no one is signed up by Friday of each week, the order will be cancelled.  We thank everybody who continues to help with this part of our church fellowship.

GOOD SHEPHERD’S BLOOD DRIVE:  Online scheduling is now available for Good Shepherd’s Blood Drive.  The gift of life can be given on Tuesday, September 20^th, from 2-6:00 p.m. in the church basement.  Go to: redcrossblood.org and enter in your zip code, then follow the prompts.  We will also have a sign-up in the narthex in the near future if you prefer that method.  Thank you for helping your fellow man/woman who need this God given resource.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS for the annual Camp CILCA Chicken Fry and Auction on Sunday,  September 4, 2016!   The day begins with worship at 10:30 a.m.  Lunch will be served from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. with the live Auction beginning at 1:00 p.m.  Auction items include quilts, gift baskets, homemade fudge, gift cards, and a picnic table hand-decorated by the 2016 High School Week campers and counselors.  Thirty plus campsites are available for tents, trailers, and RV’s.  Join other Camp CILCA supporters for a weekend of camping and fellowship.  If you would like to donate an item for auction, please contact the Camp office at (217) 487-7497.

GOLF OUTING:  The annual Camp CILCA Whippoorwill Challenge Golf Scramble is set for Friday, September 23^rd at The Rail in Springfield IL.  Start time is 12:30 p.m.  The cost of $60.00 includes: greens fees, cart, prizes and dinner.  To register send to: CID Golf Fundraiser, Grace Lutheran Church, PO Box 493, Paris IL 61944-0493.  Pastor will not be playing this year as he attends Holden’s varsity football game.

THE LUTHERAN HOUR:  “Boasting–Ridiculous or Real” is the topic for next Sunday.  The sermon text will be from Galatians 6:14.  Modern man boasts, “God is dead,” but what have we gained from such thinking?  Reverend Dr. Ken Klaus is the speaker.  Hear this Sunday’s message on the Lutheran Hour on WGN (720) at 6:00 a.m.; WJWR (104.7 FM) and WJWR (90.3 FM) both on Sunday at 3:00 p.m.  Also, if you can receive Lincoln, IL radio station WLLM (1370 AM) the program is broadcast two times on Sunday at 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m.  Tune in!  You can also listen to The Lutheran Hour on your personal computer at RealAudio, www.lhm.org.

PRAYER CHAIN:  If you have a prayer request please submit them by email to Mary Anne Kirchner at makirchner@yahoo.com or you may phone a Prayer Request to Mary Anne; her home # is (309) 661-6522; her cell phone# is (309) 532-2582.  The Prayer Request box is on the table in the narthex for any written requests.

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August 14, 2016

THOUGHTS ON STEWARDSHIP:  Luke 12:51:  “Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.”  Jesus has come to divide us out of the world – to carve out a people for Himself, redeemed by His Blood and trusting His Word.  The world hates this Word, but for us it is life and salvation.  We seek to follow Jesus’ Word in all things because we know Him who gave us the Word: we know He always seeks to bless us.

SUMMER SUNDAY SCHOOL PROGRAM: MISSIONS AROUND THE WORLD:  This summer we will be learning about new countries, cultures and foods from around the world, as we learn about Baptism, the Lord’s Prayer, Confession and Communion.  Today’s lesson will focus on “Pentecost”.  Please join us in the church basement in the Youth Area at 9:15 a.m.

GOOD SHEPHERD LUTHERAN FRIDAY NIGHT MOVIE for August is:  “TAKING CHANCE”.  It will be shown this coming Friday, August 19^th, starting at 6:30p.m.  It is the remarkable true story of one soldier’s death in battle, another soldier’s journey of discovery and a nation’s reverence and gratitude toward its war dead.  After hearing of the heroic death of a young Marine in Iraq, Veteran Officer, Lt. Colonel Michael Strobl (Kevin Bacon) volunteers to escort the remains of Lance Corporal Chance Phelps back to his hometown in Wyoming.  Now, on a trip across America’s heartland, Strobl will find himself on an unexpectedly emotional sojourn into the soul of a country mourning not only Phelps, but all of our country’s fallen heroes.  Join us for a great movie and a good meal in air condition comfort. There is plenty of room and plenty of food.

NEXT SUNDAY is the deadline for items to be submitted for the SEPTEMBER NEWSLETTER.  Mandy Kluender is our Editor for the church newsletter and any announcements you want to be published in the Newsletter should be submitted to her at mgkluender@hotmail.com or you may call her at (309) 838-9868.

GOOD SHEPHRD’S ANNUAL CHURCH PICNIC is on Sunday, August 28^th at 12:00 p.m. at the  Tipton Trails Park in Bloomington.  Please sign-up on the sign-up sheet located on the table in the narthex if you are planning to attend.  Thank you.

FROM THE OFFICE:  If your son or daughter is going away to college or they no longer live at home, please fill out an Information Sheet located on the table in the narthex.  As their church home, we like to stay in contact during these important years by sending them Pastor’s Sermon and the monthly Church Newsletter.  Please return the form to Sandy in the church office when completed.  We lift our young people up in prayer as their spiritual journey continues.

FELLOWSHIP HOSTS:  The sign-up for help with coffee/doughnuts is posted on the wall by the north stairwell.  We need an individual/family to sign-up each week to pick up the donuts and make the coffee.  If no one is signed up by Friday of each week, the order will be cancelled.  We thank everybody who continues to help with this part of our church fellowship.

GOOD SHEPHERD’S BLOOD DRIVE:  Online scheduling is now available for Good Shepherd’s Blood Drive.  The gift of life can be given on Tuesday, September 20^th, from 2-6:00 p.m. in the church basement.  Go to: redcrossblood.org and enter in your zip code, then follow the prompts.  We will also have a sign-up in the narthex in the near future if you prefer that method.  Thank you for helping your fellow man/woman who need this God given resource.

CAMP CILCA’S ANNUAL CHICKEN FRY & AUCTION will take place on Sunday, September 4, 2016.  A Worship Service will be held for those camping at 10:30 a.m. in the Indoor Chapel.  A Fried Chicken lunch will be served from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and the live auction will begin at 1:00 p.m.  For items that will be listed for auction you can visit the website at www.cilca.org.  If you would like to donate an item for auction, please contact the Camp office at (217) 487-7497.

GOLF OUTING:  The annual Camp CILCA Whippoorwill Challenge Golf Scramble is set for Friday, September 23^rd at The Rail in Springfield IL.  Start time is 12:30 p.m.  The cost of $60.00 includes: greens fees, cart, prizes and dinner.  To register send to: CID Golf Fundraiser, Grace Lutheran Church, PO Box 493, Paris IL 61944-0493.  Pastor will not be playing this year as he attends Holden’s varsity football game.

THE LUTHERAN HOUR:  “Hope Not In Politicians” is the topic for next Sunday.  The sermon text will be from Isaiah 31:1-3.  “Archives August” concludes with a classic yet timely message originally presented by Dr. Oswald Hoffmann  Hear this Sunday’s message on the Lutheran Hour on WGN (720) at 6:00 a.m.; WJWR (104.7 FM) and WJWR (90.3 FM) both on Sunday at 3:00 p.m.  Also, if you can receive Lincoln, IL radio station WLLM (1370 AM) the program is broadcast two times on Sunday at 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m.  Tune in!  You can also listen to The Lutheran Hour on your personal computer at RealAudio, www.lhm.org.

PRAYER CHAIN:  If you have a prayer request please submit them by email to Mary Anne Kirchner at makirchner@yahoo.com or you may phone a Prayer Request to Mary Anne; her home # is (309) 661-6522; her cell phone# is (309) 532-2582.  The Prayer Request box is on the table in the narthex for any written requests.

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August 7, 2016

THOUGHTS ON STEWARDSHIP:  Luke 12:24:  “Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them.”  God feeds the birds of the air – this we know, it’s just that, as one will put it: God sometimes feeds the birds….to the cats!  Yes, crosses and hardships will always come.  Christ said that no disciple is above his Master.  But through it all, the Lord cares for us and He calls upon us to trust to that care.  He really is our Father, and He really will guard and keep us through whatever this life has to throw at us.  And in the end, we shall receive the gift of eternal life.

GOOD SHEPHERD LUTHERAN FRIDAY NIGHT MOVIE for August is:  “TAKING CHANCE”.  It will be shown on Friday, August 19^th, starting at 6:30p.m.  It is the remarkable true story of one soldier’s death in battle, another soldier’s journey of discovery and a nation’s reverence and gratitude toward its war dead.  After hearing of the heroic death of a young Marine in Iraq, Veteran Officer, Lt. Colonel Michael Strobl (Kevin Bacon) volunteers to escort the remains of Lance Corporal Chance Phelps back to his hometown in Wyoming.  Now, on a trip across America’s heartland, Strobl will find himself on an unexpectedly emotional sojourn into the soul of a country mourning not only Phelps, but all of our country’s fallen heroes.  Join us for a great movie and a good meal in air condition comfort. There is plenty of room and plenty of food.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS!  The Church Picnic is coming up on Sunday, August 28^th.  Watch your bulletin for more details and to sign-up in August.

FELLOWSHIP HOSTS:  The sign-up for help with coffee/doughnuts is posted on the wall by the north stairwell.  We need an individual/family to sign-up each week to pick up the donuts and make the coffee.  If no one is signed up by Friday of each week, the order will be cancelled.  We thank everybody who continues to help with this part of our church fellowship.

WELCOMING NEW INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS:  You can make a big impact on the lives of International Students and they will make a big impact on your life.  We are looking for Christian individuals and families to welcome newly-arriving International Students.  The need will be even greater as we have the opportunity this year of hosting up to 30 Indian students.  Normally they do not respond for home stays.  The students will begin arriving sometime the week of August 7th, with most arriving the weekend starting August 12^th.  New Student Orientation will begin at 8:30 on August 16^th.  You could help in any of the following ways:  1) Hosting a student in your home for a few days; 2) Providing transportation from the bus, plane or train; 3) Providing baked goods for the Orientation on August 16^th; 4) Hosting a student for a meal or taking them to the store; 5) Preparing a meal with your small group for International Talk Time (ITT) on a Friday night of the Fall semester.  If you are interested and would like more information, please contact John and Linda Berger, serving with International Students, Inc., at (309)664-0377 or jwberger@ilstu.edu.  If you have any questions please see Pastor Lueck.  Training is required for 1^st time participants.  Training and resource information will be provided on several different dates (you only need to attend one).  Thank you!

CAMP CILCA’S ANNUAL CHICKEN FRY & AUCTION will take place on Sunday, September 4, 2016.  A Worship Service will be held for those camping at 10:30 a.m. in the Indoor Chapel.  A Fried Chicken lunch will be served from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and the live auction will begin at 1:00 p.m.  For items that will be listed for auction you can visit the website at www.cilca.org.  If you would like to donate an item for auction, please contact the Camp office at (217) 487-7497.

POSITION AVAILABLE:  Camp CILCA is seeking a part-time assistant housekeeper to aid in the upkeep of the Retreat Facilities year round.  Anyone interested in the position can call Pastor Joshua Theil at (217) 487-7497.  Thank you.

SPECIAL SEMINAR:  Dr. Paul L. Maier will present a special seminar on Saturday, October 15, 2016 at Christ Lutheran Church, Normal, IL.  The seminar will cover two topics, “Defending the Faith” and “Christianity and the Competition”.  Save the date.  More information to follow.

THE LUTHERAN HOUR:  “In Spite of Everything” is the topic for next Sunday.  The sermon text will be from Romans 8:28.   “Archives August” continues, as Reverend Gregory Seltz preaches another sermon by Dr. Oswald Hoffmann.  Hear this Sunday’s message on the Lutheran Hour on WGN (720) at 6:00 a.m.; WJWR (104.7 FM) and WJWR (90.3 FM) both on Sunday at 3:00 p.m.  Also, if you can receive Lincoln, IL radio station WLLM (1370 AM) the program is broadcast two times on Sunday at 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m.  Tune in!  You can also listen to The Lutheran Hour on your personal computer at RealAudio, www.lhm.org.