My brothers and sisters in Christ,
Things are going to get very busy, if they haven’t already. First thing, make sure you make your way to the church in the next two weekends. The quilters are going to display their work throughout the church sanctuary. You will see them draped everywhere. We have a beautiful church, but when the quilters display their wares, it becomes something to behold. I hope you enjoy what you see. They will be boxed up afterwards and sent out all over the country and the world. A big shout-out to all our quilters.
We will be welcoming new members on Sunday, November 30, during the worship service. I’m hoping that all new members will be able to attend. Please call Eloide if you plan on being there.
November 29 and 30 is the first weekend of Advent. That came quickly. We still have a few questions about our schedule. I hope we will have these questions answered during our council meeting on Tuesday, November 18. One question will be when the Christmas Eve service will be. The second question is whether we will have a Saturday service for our children’s program on Sunday, December 21. Last year, we cancelled the service so we would all be able to enjoy our children’s work.
One of the most exciting activities that happens during the church year is the Musical Cantata. They will be singing the weekend of December 13 & 14. This is one of the times you want to invite your friends or neighbors to church. Along with you, they will be rewarded.
Sunday, December 7, we will be making and decorating cookies for our homebound. I can personally share with you how thankful they are to receive the container of cookies, as well as being remembered by their church. During Sunday School, the children will be helping to decorate the cookies. If you are able, can you bring a dozen cookies or so to be shared with the homebound? You can drop them off before December 7 in the office or bring them before 9:00 a.m. on Sunday. The Evangelism Committee will be there to pack them up.
We will also need drivers to deliver the cookies. There is a sign-up sheet in the Narthex. I hope you will consider driving a package or two. You will see and experience the joy on their faces.
For those who missed church last weekend, I talked about the liturgical church year. The end of the church year happens on November 22 & 23. It is Christ the King weekend. The next weekend marks the start of Advent, the church’s new year. One of the things that changes is that we switch to a new Gospel writer. This year, we have been covering the Gospel of Luke. At the start of Advent, we will go to the Gospel writer Matthew and continue with Matthew for the next church year.
One of the activities that you might have missed is our first Parents’ Date Night. The Schallhorn Family took control of the evening. There were about 5 families involved, with about 12 children participating. It was quite a night. Donna Ristau was also involved. It is something they are planning to do once a month. What a great activity for our young families. I think they are planning a rotation of parents so they all can be involved. I heard that the basement was a favorite among the children. If you want to be involved in this activity, give Tina Schallhorn a call or the office.
You may not notice the switch, but the biggest change between these two writers is their audience. Luke’s audience is mostly Gentile Christians. Luke has to explain some of the Jewish customs that his audience would not know. We read an example of this a couple of weekends ago. Luke was writing about the Sadducees, and he said that they don’t believe in the resurrection. Luke’s audience probably wouldn’t know that.
Matthew’s audience is made up mostly of Jewish Christians. Explanations will not be needed. However, the word “God” is used very carefully because of the absolute respect Jewish people have for this word. You will see more “kingdom of Heaven” versus “kingdom of God.” Again, it shows the importance of knowing your audience.
At a funeral one time, the last song was “I’m Not Okay” by Jelly Roll. There wasn’t a dry eye in the place. If you want to know how your pastor and Patty are feeling, the song pretty much explains it. We travel up to Brookfield, WI, for Patty’s sister, Sara’s Memorial service next weekend. I have been asked to officiate this service. It will be held next Saturday. Please keep us in your prayers.
Please keep Eloide and Mark in your prayers, also. Sunday, they traveled back to Mayo for more testing. She will be back in the office on Tuesday. It took 19 years for me to get a diagnosis of what was wrong with me. I think one thing they would like to have is a name for what troubles Mark. Then they will hopefully be able to fix the issue. Safety in travel, as well as being able to fix Mark’s illness, would be two things to pray for.
Crossed marked and spirit sealed,
Pastor Tom
815-223-1144
Readings for Christ the King– Weekend of November 22 & 23
Jeremiah 23:1-6 Psalm 46 Colossians 1:11-20 Luke 23:33-43