DEVOTION: Luke 3:1-20
3 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, 2 during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness. 3 And he went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 4 As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet,
"The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
'Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight.
5 Every valley shall be filled,
and every mountain and hill shall be made low,
and the crooked shall become straight,
and the rough places shall become level ways,
6 and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.'"
7 He said therefore to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Bear fruits in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. 9 Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."
10 And the crowds asked him, "What then shall we do?" 11 And he answered them, "Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise." 12 Tax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him, "Teacher, what shall we do?" 13 And he said to them, "Collect no more than you are authorized to do." 14 Soldiers also asked him, "And we, what shall we do?" And he said to them, "Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your wages."
15 As the people were in expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Christ, 16 John answered them all, saying, "I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17 His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire."
18 So with many other exhortations he preached good news to the people. 19 But Herod the tetrarch, who had been reproved by him for Herodias, his brother's wife, and for all the evil things that Herod had done, 20 added this to them all, that he locked up John in prison.
Sometimes you just have to let the reading stand on it's own. Today is one of those days. The story tells it all. John the Baptist was sent to prepare the world for Christ, so heard and repented, others heard and rejected. So it will be on the last day.
Prepare yourselves! Listen to and heed the words of John today! Repent and believe the good news! Turn from your stubborn wickedness and do God's will! Fall on your knees before God, like you've never done before, and ask God for forgiveness for refusing to do his will even while knowing what it was, and turn to Almighty God so that He may save you!
Prayer: Lord, give me a repentant heart and turn not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of you salvation and renew a right spirit within me. Amen.
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CALENDAR:
Thurs- Alzheimer's Support 1pm
Sat- Worship 5
Sun- Worship 8:30 and 11; Sunday school 9:45
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WORSHIP WORKERS:
Acolyte- 8:30- John ezold ; 11- Jack Bunge
Ushers- Dave Winter, Gary Scott, Larry and Scott Schulze
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!)
(I'll leave this up until someone answers it. Someone better take over Dianne's place in answering these daily questions!)
Who was Malachi and how many chapters does the book of Malachi have?
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NEWS!!!!
DIANNE HANCE VISITATION AND FUNERAL TODAY
Visitation- 9-11
Funeral- 11
Luncheon- Noon-- Help needed-- Info Below:
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!!!!
Sun, Dec 6-
Sun, Dec. 20-
Christmas Eve 7pm-
Jan 2-
Jan 3-
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OFFERING ENVELOPES ARE ON A TABLE IN THE NARTHEX!!!
If you are a confirmed member of St. John's you have offering envelopes! Take them home! Put money in them! And Bring them back as your offering to the Lord!
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NEXT BUILDING MEETING WILL BE NEXT TUESDAY, DECEMBER 8 AT 7PM!!
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!!!
They are a wonderfully talented family who use their God-given abilities to honor him and bring entertainment to churches all around the USA. Please mark your calendars and make every effort to be there. You won't be disappointed.
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LADIES AID IS SELLING CHRISTMAS CARDS FOR $5 a BOX!!
Once they're gone, that's it. There won't be another order when they run out! Get them today! They're in the basement and you can give money to whoever is in the office.
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PLEASE ORDER SCRIP !!!!!
A NEW AND EASY FUNDRAISING OPPORTUNITY!!!
The order forms are on the table in the narthex! Just about every store that you can think of is on the list! Use the cards just like you would use a debit/credit card and help St. John's make A LOT of money
Place your order, along with your check, made payable to St. Johns, in the "Bob the Builder" box.
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OPERATION BACKPACK FOR DECEMBER IS CANNED SOUP AND RAMEN NOODLES!!!
Please help feed the less fortunate kids in Warrenton and Warren County, all of whom get two meals at school during the school week, but go hungry on weekends.
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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.
__________________________________________________________________________________________GENERAL PRAYERS:
For the FAMILY AND FRIENDS OF DAVE KOHRS who passed from this world to eternal life last (Wednesday) evening.
For the FAMILY OF DIANNNE HANCE as they mourn her loss and celebrate her resurrection to eternal life today.
For LIBBY PAILER as she recovers from a car accident yesterday. She wasn't hurt physically.
For DAVE CALLIES as he had a bad accident with his table saw Monday and cut off his thumb and badly cut two other fingers. Surgeons were able to reattach his thumb and repair his fingers, but he is in a lot of pain and will have a long road of recovery. He is at home recovering.
For CAL TAMELER as he is dealing with many complications and struggles with his eye.
For DAVE WINTER as he awaits an important test to identify troubling results from a prostate exam.
For DON PANHORST who is recovering from his third round of chemo that he received yesterday.
For DONNNA LINDSEY'S DAD, as he has been moved to Lincoln County Nursing and Rehab to recover from kidney troubles.
For KARIN KLAUSTERMEIER as she recovers from her hysterectomy.
For MARIANNE LINKE, who has been moved to Warrenton Manor and is receiving treatment and antibiotics for a very stubborn infection.
For DENISE SCHLESSELMANN as she is in the Czech Republic to continue her mission work.
For WILMA WEIGLE as she continues to deal with the after effects of a severe stroke almost two years ago.
