Daily Email: Thursday, November 19, 2015

DEVOTION: Mark 13:24-37

²⁴"But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, ²⁵and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. ²⁶And then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. ²⁷And then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.

²⁸"From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. ²⁹So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near, at the very gates. ³⁰Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. ³¹Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

³²"But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. ³³Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come. ³⁴It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his servants in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to stay awake. ³⁵Therefore stay awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows,or in the morning— ³⁶lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. ³⁷And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake."

It's hard to stay awake when you're really tired isn't it? Even when you're driving, and you know that you have to stay away to stay on the road, you can feel yourself dozing off. It's pretty dangerous isn't it? It is almost inevitable that we will all fall asleep.

That's what makes this message from Jesus so hard to hear today. We all fall prey to sin and our own human nature. We fall asleep from time to time. We get weak in faith, and sometimes, unfortunately, people fall from faith.

This is what keeps most pastors up at night. We are called to be in charge of people's souls. If you've ever wondered why I keep bugging people about worship attendance and being active in the fellowship of the church, it is this. I don't want people to lose their faith.

The less a person is in worship and the less he or she is around other Christians, the more space there is left for the devil to slip in and change ways of thinking. The more a person is away from the Lord, the better chance there is that they fall too far away and never come back. I've seen it happen way too much, and there's nothing that gives me more heartburn and heartache than that.

I pray that all of you reading this today take it to heart, and know exactly how important worship, Bible Study, Christian fellowship, prayer, and the Sacraments are for you. It is, quite literally, a matter of eternal life or death.

As you read this passage, you should also be so very thankful that, by faith, you are part of the elect that will be gathered from the four winds. You are a chosen one! You are a child of God by virtue off the faith that was given you in your baptism and strengthened daily through the Word, the Lord's Supper, and the mutual encouragement of the brothers and sisters in Christ! You are saved if you remain in faith!

Don't take it for granted! Don't take your faith for granted. Nurture it! Grow in it! Live in it! Love Him! Follow Him!

Prayer: Lord, keep me awake until you return that my faith may not fall asleep and that I may be prepared for your arrival. Amen.

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CALENDAR:

Thurs- Little Lambs Thanksgiving lunch 11am

Fri- Little Lambs Thanksgiving lunch 11am; Bible Study at Hendershots 7pm
Sat- Men's Breakfast 8am; Ladies Aid Retreat at Holy Cross, Ofallon 9-3; Worship 5
Sun- Worship 8:30 and 11; Sunday school 9:45
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WORSHIP WORKERS:
Acolyte- 8:30- Sarah Cluver ; 11- Alaina Heitgerd
Ushers- Figura family
Altar- Set up- Linda Callies; Clean up- Lois Boeger
Communion Assistants- Sat- Don Turnure; 8:30- John Hachtel; 11- Steve Robine
Greeters- 8:30- Paul and Cindy Klover; 11- ????
Lay readers- Sat- Marcia Sevier 8:30- Jennifer Figura 11- Steve Robine
Sat. Pianist- Tim Sherman
Organist- Rachel Fisher
Projectionists: Sat. ?????? 8:30-?????? , 11- Kalene Masters
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NEWS!!!! PLEASE READ IT ALL!!!!

PROJECTIONISTS STILL NEEDED THROUGH THE END OF THE YEAR!!!!

Sat. Nov. 21

Thanksgiving Eve- 7pm

Sat. Dec. 5-

Sun, Dec 6-

Sat, Dec. 12-

Sun, Dec. 20-

Christmas Eve 7pm-

Jan 2-

Jan 3-

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WE NEED SOME LEADERSHIP TO STEP AND TAKE OVE THE REIGNS OF PRESIDENT, VICEE PRESIDENT AND THE ONE ELDER SPOT THAT IS BEING LEFFT VACANT!!!

If anyone is interested in volunteering or even just nominating a person that he or she knows would be good for the job, please let me know asap!

FROM VOTER'S MEETING SUNDAY

1. The voters voted to have only one service on Christmas Eve at 7pm

2. The budget was accepted as put together. There is currently a $12,000 deficit in our budget. (Thank you Alan Hofeldt for your hard work on putting it all together and trying to make it work!!) A Finance Committee has been appointed to research compensation and benefits for our church workers to work on increasing those things.

3. We had an incomplete ballot for board members and officers for 2016. Below is the current state of it all:

President- Vacant

Vice President- Vacant

Secretary- Linda Callies

Treasurer- Rich Boeger

Financial Secretary- Doug Walters

Elders- (Leaving are Rich Talbert and Don Turnure, Roy Bohning has been added) (One spot is left vacant)

Trustees- Same as 2015 (All spots are filled)

Board of Ed- Christy Winn off, Naomi Johnson on (All Spots are filled)

Board of Outreach- same (All spots are filled)

Board of Stewardship- same (All spots are filled)

4. No nominations were made for any of the Synod offices available.

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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 NOVEMBER is INDIVIDUALLY WRAPPED SNACK AND OATMEAL PACKETS!!!

Many children in our community are very poor. They are able to get some of their meals at school during the week, but often go hungry on weekends. Operation backpack is a way that our community has decided to help these kids.

Every month throughout the school year, each church participating will take one food item and collect just that food item. At the end of the month the food will be delivered to school. The school officials along with volunteers will distribute the food to kids backpacks to take home.

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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.

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GENERAL PRAYERS:

For KARIN KLAUSTERMEIER as she is recovering from a very extensive hysterectomy on Tuesday.

For CAL TAMELER as he fights a dangerous infection in his eye.

For DAVE CALLIES as he is recovering from intestinal problems.

For MARIANNE LINKE, who is hospitalized with severe weakness. She is unable to get out of bed or stand on her own.

For DIANNE HANCE who is doing much better than she has been the last several months.

For DONNNA LINDSEY'S DAD, who is undergoing tests for an unknown illness and for celebration on his birthday.

For NOAH ROGERS, a 1 1/2 year old, who is dealing with cancer and is going through is second bone marrow transplant. He is a grandson of a coworker of Jim Rahn.

For DON PANHORST who is undergoing his second round of chemo treatments today.

For DENISE SCHLESSELMANN as she is in the Czech Republic to continue her mission work.

For DAVE AND CAROL KOHRS, who are BOTH on hospice care.

For WILMA WEIGLE as she continues to deal with the after effects of a severe stroke almost two years ago.

Daily Email: Wednesday, November 18, 2015

DEVOTION: Isaiah 51:4-6

4 "Give attention to me, my people,
    and give ear to me, my nation;
for a law will go out from me,
    and I will set my justice for a light to the peoples.
5 My righteousness draws near,
    my salvation has gone out,
    and my arms will judge the peoples;
the coastlands hope for me,
    and for my arm they wait.
6 Lift up your eyes to the heavens,
    and look at the earth beneath;
for the heavens vanish like smoke,
    the earth will wear out like a garment,
    and they who dwell in it will die in like manner;
but my salvation will be forever,
    and my righteousness will never be dismayed.
 
 
I'm just a little worn out today.  It was a long day in the waiting room waiting for Karin to get done with her surgery.  What the doctor said would take an hour and a half ended up taking three and a half hours.  We got there at 9am and she didn't get into her room until 6:30pm.  You can only imagine how worn out she must be.  
 
That's what happens to our bodies.  Our bodies just wear out.  They aren't meant to last forever.  They were..... back before the Fall.  They were meant to be eternal bodies, but since sin entered the world, and death through sin, we all wear out and die. 
 
The good news is that even though our bodies wear out our souls don't.  Our souls will live forever!  What makes us who we are, what is truly in the image of God since our baptisms, will be with Jesus forever.  And on that last day, our bodies will be restored, and we will be made new!  It won't be like our earthly body.  It will be a heavenly, perfect, sinless body!  
 
Rejoice!  Know that the Lord will reign forever!  His righteousness will never be dismayed.  His Son, Jesus, the Lord Our Righteousness, will reign forever and we, who live in Him, will be at His right hand!
 
At the end of the day, when you're worn out and your dog tired, remember that there will come a day when all of that will go away and you will be completely new!  
 
Until then, rejoice that you are already being made new!  Rejoice that salvation has already been won for you!  Rejoice in your certain eternal life that you are already living!  
 
Let us pray:  Lord, as we long for our complete and total resurrection, help us to rejoice today in the salvation already won!
 

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CALENDAR:
Wed- Ladies Aid noon; Choir 7; Newsletter deadline