Month: November 2017

Bulletin Announcements

November 5, 2017

NEED A RIDE? If you are unable to drive to church, we have an option that is available.  Please speak with Pastor who has the details.  Thank you.

OUR SUNDAY SCHOOL meets at 9:15 a.m. in the Choir Room which is located on the 2nd level (the west side).

THE ADULT BIBLE CLASS meets in the basement at 9:15 a.m. As we celebrate the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation we continue studies on that time period.  We are studying “A Man Named Martin”, a video-based study on the reformer Martin Luther.

THOUGHTS ON STEWARDSHIP:   Matthew 5:7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.”  This is one of many Bible passages that remind us that we reap what we sow.  Likewise, what God puts into us (His own love, mercy, kindness, and generosity) – flows back out of us. For it all starts with His self-giving!

TODAY:  In our 10:30 worship service we celebrate the Sacrament of Holy Baptism for Gracie Aurora Mosier daughter of Randy & Beth Mosier.  Sponsors are Kelly Whitkanack and Jackson Whitkanack.

TODAY:  You may pick up your Commitment Envelope from last year located on the table in the narthex.  Today we will hand out the New Commitment Cards and we will collect them in the worship service next Sunday, November 12th.

TOMORROW:  The Funeral Service for Joan Renken will be tomorrow, November 6th, here at Good Shepherd beginning at 10:30 a.m.  Visitation is one hour before the service and today at Kibler-Brady-Ruestman Funeral Home from 3-5:00 p.m.

ANNUAL VOTER’S MEETING:  Our Annual Voter’s Meeting is next Sunday, November 12th, following the 10:30 worship service.  We will precede the meeting with a church potluck.  The 2018 Budget and Slate of Candidates are on the table in the narthex.

NEXT SUNDAY, November 12th, will be our monthly door Offering for our Seminarian.  We were finally sent some information about our Seminary Student and he also wrote the congregation a letter, which is posted outside the church office on the bulletin board.  Mr. Brent Keller is from Sanger, TX and a member of Messiah Lutheran Church in (get this), Keller, TX.  He is married to Hanne and they have a one-year old daughter, Annalise.  He is in his fourth year of study at Concordia Theological Seminary in Ft. Wayne, IN.

THANKS BE TO GOD!  We met our goal and even surpassed it with $7,850.00 for our new Church Sign.  Start formulating those pithy Outreach messages as we involve the membership in the next few months with ideas for the sign.

FOOD COLLECTION:  The food box collection for Home Sweet Home is in the narthex.  We will collect until Saturday, November 18th when we will be serving a meal at the Mission.

CAN YOU HELP: John and Paula Hardy are planning their annual trip to Ft Wayne, IN.  It will be sometime after the holidays, hopefully mid-January. The Seminary needs clean usable clothes for men, women, and children. They also accept shoes, coats, and kitchen supplies.  Please bring them to church.  There is a closet located in the hall upstairs where items are collected, and packed for our trip.  If you need help finding it just contact John (309) 310-7917.  Thank you!

SHARING TREE:  We know that it is early in the process, but wanted to let you know we will have a Sharing Tree this year.  We are getting a name from the Baby Fold and will have tags on the tree with specific requests.  We also will be collecting money to purchase items not received, any additional money collected will be used to purchase gift cards.  These gift cards will be given to the Baby Fold to supplement other needs in the system.  Last year we were able to give a handful of cards because of the generosity of our church family.  The look on the faces of the staff said it all….  It was priceless.  Thank you very much for helping to share the love this coming holiday season.  Please contact Toni Lueck (309) 530-8666 or Paula Hardy (309) 829-8432 with questions.  Thank you!

THE LUTHERAN HOUR:  “More Than a Wish” is the topic for next Sunday.  The sermon text will be from 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14.  Not so long ago over 370 million tickets were sold for a Powerball drawing.  Each person who made a purchase had hope that they might become rich.  Most were disappointed.  In 1 Thessalonians 4, St Paul explains how the resurrection hope of Christmas is better than the hopelessness of the world and far more solid than groundless wishful 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 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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Elder, Usher, and Acolyte Schedules for November 2017

Elder and Usher Schedule

Date
8:30
Elder
10:30
Nov 5Gerald Semelka, Nathan Kluender, Paul GerikeBarry HamlinBud Kessler, Curt Kessler
Nov 12Joshua Parry, Mike FieldCurt KesslerBrian Dirks, Greg McNeely, Theron Noth
Nov 19Craig Culp, Daryle Schempp, Nathan Kluender, Steve ParryCraig CulpGreg McNeely, Mike Huth
Nov 22 7PMJeff Piper, Lucas PiperNathan Kluender
Nov 26Gene Fuller, Richard RossRandy ReinhardtBrian Dirks, Bud Kessler, Theron Noth

Acolyte Schedule

Date
8:30 AM
10:30 AM
Nov 5Tanner HitchPastor/Elder
Nov 12Pastor/ElderJustin McNeely
Nov 19J.T. PiperPastor/Elder
Nov 22 7PMThanksgiving EveJessica Isaac
Nov 26Pastor/ElderWill McNeely

Stewardship Corner November 2017

Our Father in heaven has claimed us as His own.  By the shedding of His Son’s blood, by the His death for our sins and His resurrection for our justification, God the Father has received us back into His family.  By water combined with His Word, promise, and name, the Holy Spirit has taken up residence in us.  We belong to Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  He is in us, and we are in Him.  And being in Him, all things are ours. In Him, we are richly and abundantly blessed.

Our true treasure and wealth is that we belong to the most holy Trinity and everything that is His belongs also to us: righteousness, peace, eternal life.  Even our temporal treasures are gifts from His fatherly divine goodness and mercy.

We receive our treasures from Him, and thus, as (good stewards of His varied grace,) (1 Peter 4:10) we manage them in such a way that they may be returned to Him.  We bring them to Him, hallowed through prayers of thanksgiving and God’s holy Word, as an offering.

Thus, all our possessions, as gifts from God, are also offerings to Him, from which we eat to nourish our bodies, share with our family, neighbors, and fellow Christians, with the poor and even our enemies, as holy things given by the holy God.  His temporal gifts are blessings to and for us, and bring blessing upon us even as they are pressed into His service for His kingdom and the souls that receive them.

Thus we place all that we have into God’s hands, and He never fails to remember us and pours out the fullness of His promises upon us.  We give thanks for all that He has done, is doing, and will continue to do.  We give thanks by not taking for ourselves, but giving to all even as our heavenly Father has given to us.

As we prepare for the celebrations of Thanksgiving, may we all give thanks continually for all that we are and all that we have because of God’s providential care.  And may we be all the more diligent in bringing everything that we have received from God to Him, so that He may bless it and employ it for the good of all — even for us. “ For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance” (Matthew 13:12).

Celebrating November 2017

Birthdays

Karen Dale             Nov 1
Caleb Evans           Nov 2
Ryan Kleiboeker    Nov 2
Sheri Piper             Nov 4
Shirley Potter         Nov 4
Patricia Hanner      Nov 6
Jeanette McNeely  Nov 6
Phoenix Kleiboeker Nov 7
Denyce Berg           Nov 8
Holden Lueck         Nov 9
Curt Kessler            Nov 15
Ruth Gooding        Nov 17
Cannon Kleiboeker Nov 17
Theron Noth           Nov 18
Joshua Parry            Nov 23
Gordon Schroeder  Nov 24

Baptismal Birthdays

Jacquelyn Semelka Nov 1
Janet Evans             Nov 7
Bob Love                Nov 14
Cheryl Reichert       Nov 14
Ryan Kleiboeker     Nov 19
Thomas Anderson Nov 20
Penny Culp            Nov 26
Holden Lueck        Nov 28
Joshua Parry          Nov 28

Pastor’s Notes November 2017

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Because it is so difficult in parts of the world to find clean drinking water, an organization called Water Is Life developed a wonderful resource called “The Drinkable Book.”  The paper in the book is coated in silver nanoparticles that filter out almost 99.9 percent of harmful bacteria.  Each tear-out page can be used and reused to filter up to 100 liters of water at the cost of only four pennies per page.

The Bible is also an unusually “drinkable” Book.  In John chapter 4 we have the story of the woman at the well.  She needed much more than just water to quench her spiritual thirst.  Because of the circumstances in her life she was desperate to know about “the living water” that Jesus was talking about.

Jesus said to her, “Whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again.  The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (John 4:14)

The Lord gave us living water in our Baptism.  We need the “drinkable” Book as we face the circumstances of our life.  This “drinkable” Book points to God’s Son as the sole source of “living water.”  Those called and washed in the water through the Holy Spirit will experience “a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

Lord, help us discard the things that leave us empty and thirsting and exchange them for the blessings of the living water you offer.

In Christ,
Pastor