DEVOTION: Malachi 3:1-7
3 "Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. 2 But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap. 3 He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the Lord. 4 Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years.
5 "Then I will draw near to you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired worker in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner, and do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts.
6 "For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed. 7 From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts.
When Malachi says that the Lord is like a refiner's fire and fuller's soap, what does he mean? Well, a refiner's fire was and still is used to get the impurities out of certain metals like gold and silver to make it pure, beautiful and flawless. A fuller's soap was used to wash wool and make it white, clean and sellable.
So not only is the Lord the one who judges our purity, but he is also the one who makes us pure. he is not just the one who says whether or not we can make it into paradise, but he is the one who makes us worthy and pure enough for paradise.
Then, when we get to paradise, because we have been made pure, we will be able to "bring offerings in righteousness".
Those mentioned in verse 5 have not been purified so they are still known and seen by their lawlessness and sins. When the judge looks at them, he already knows that they did not want to go into the refiner's fire to be purified. They wouldn't go into it. They stood in opposition against it. They rejected Christ's purification. Tis is what should make every Christian sad and at the same time, give us renewed purpose and determination in our striving to love others and share the good news off salvation with all at ever opportunity. It gives us a will to love them enough that they see Christ's love and turn from their unbelief.
As we go through trials and temptations, and as we experience the Lord's discipline from time to time, we must rejoice that he is still refining us. he is still working the impurities out of us so that we can be ready when the day comes and enjoy eternal life with him.
Prayer: Refine me with the Holy Spirit's fire and wash me in the blood of Jesus so that I may be pure and sinless in your sight. Amen.
CALENDAR:
Sat- Worship 5
Sun- Worship 8:30 and 11; Sunday school 9:45
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WORSHIP WORKERS:
Acolyte- Wed 6:30pm-- Lydia Miller; 8:30- John ezold ; 11- Jack Bunge
Ushers- Wed 6:30- Scott and Alex Heitgerd &Bob and Tom Linke
Altar- Set Up and Clean up- Terry McKenzie
Communion Assistants- Sat- Randy Sweet; 8:30- John Hachtel; 11- Steve Robine
Greeters- 8:30- Erv Yoder; 11- Mike and Naomi Johnson
Lay readers- Sat- Randy Sweet 8:30- Lois Boeger 11- Kailyn Blechle
Sat. Pianist- Barb Dreyer
Organist- Wed. and Sun. Rachel Fisher
Projectionists: Sat. Pam Bueltmann 8:30- John Pezold , 11- ??????
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DAILY BIBLE QUIZ: (Note: The rest of these for the rest of this year are in memory and in honor of Dianne Hance who faithfully answered this quiz daily!)
If your last name is on this list you are responsible to bring two of the three of the following (salad, vegetable or dessert) for our Advent Potluck on Wed, Dec 2 by 5:30pm
We also ask that as many as can help to clean up so that we can all worship together at 6:30!!
Thank you all for participating in this wonderful event again this year!
Adams
Aubuchon
Benke
Bentley (Stevens)
Bettlach
Colleen Bottorff
Brazee
Busby
Butler
Callies
Cunningham
Dreyer
Mim Dunn
Farris
Feldkamp
Figura (Charlie)
Frenzia
Frick
Gilkey
Hance
Hargrove
Hoelscher (Gary)
Hoelscher (George)
Hoelscher (Jason)
Howard (John Sr.)
Huster
Jacobsmeyer
Kessel
Ketterer
King
Kosters
Landwehr
Linke (Tom)
Linstruth
Luebke (Don)
Mauch
McAlister
McDowell
McKenzie (Bill)
McNew
McRae
Merx
Moore
Morris
Nolte
Nordwald
Pailer
Perricone
Peterson
Pezold
Rausch
Redecker
Robine
Ruth
Sayers
Schauer
Schulze
Scott (Gary)
Sherman (all of them)
Smith (Tim)
Speakman
Spiniolas
Sutherland
Sweet
Talbert
Tinnin
Toedebusch (Dale)
Toedebusch (Paul)
Vohsen
Vossen
Waller
Walters (Doug)
Walters (Lee)
Ladies Aid will serve a luncheon following Dianne Hance's funeral at St. John's on Thursday, December 3rd. Funeral,11 am, luncheon following. We need donations of salads, vegetables and desserts only. No hot dishes.
If you would like to donate a dish please call Lil Winter @ 636-585-2525; Joan Sexton, 636-456-5437 or Nancy Peterson, 660-619-8474.
We could use some help with clean up after the luncheon since some of our ladies are unavailable to serve. Perhaps 2 of our PALS would be able to volunteer. Please let me know by e-mail, lindacallies@centurylink.net or call me at 636-456-4228
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ORDER YOUR POINSETTIAS TO BE PLACED IN THE CHANCEL (ALTAR AREA) FOR CHRISTMAS IN HONOR OR IN MEMORY OF SOMEONE OR JUST AS A THANK YOU TO THE LORD FOR HIS CHURCH!!
$13.50 each
Sign up on the table in the narthex or call the church office.
Pay in the office or put your payment in the offering plate, but make sure it is CLEARLY MARKED "For POINSETTIA".
You can take them home with you after worship on Christmas Day!
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PROJECTIONISTS STILL NEEDED THROUGH THE END OF THE YEAR FOR THESE DATES!!!!
At our meeting last night we went through quite a few concerns and how to proceed to the next step.
Before the next meeting Elmer Wind is going to put together a few different master plans for us to review and discuss. Once we get a master plan decided on by the majority of the people in attendance at the next meeting we will then bring it to a special voter's meeting and have the voters approve it. After the master plan has been approved we will move on to developing a finance committee that will research and plan exactly how much of the master plan we can afford to build at the current time. Once that is accomplished we will go to the voters assembly again to approve the building of what we can afford. After that we will make plans to begin the building process.
I'm getting excited as I continue to see progress. I see the wheels turning slowly and the rudder is moving this whole big ship!
St. John's is growing rapidly and is in need of upgrades to the current structure as well as more space! That' is what we are working on accomplishing in the very near future! Thanks be to God!
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THE GARMS FAMILY SINGERS WILL BE HERE FOR A CHRISTMAS CONCERT ON THURSDAY, DECEMBER 17 AT 6PM!!!
UNMARKED BLUE ENVELOPE CONTRIBUTIONS ARE GOING TO THE BUILDING EXPANSION PROGRAM
If you'd like it to go to the DCE fund you need to mark it for that! Please make sure you mark the ENVELOPE clearly for the DCE PROGRAM!
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DO YOU HAVE A KROGER CARD? ENROLL IT IN THE COMMUNITY REWARDS PROGRAM!!!
Register it online www.krogercommunityrewards.com and have it swiped each time you shop to earn money for Little Lambs.
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