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| Newsletters > Good News > 12-15-04 | ||
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Sunday, December 19 On this Fourth Sunday in Advent we will celebrate Holy Communion using Provisional Liturgy B from Renewing Worship. The Christus Choir sings at the 8:30 a.m. service, the Sunday School threes-Grade 2 Christmas Program takes place at 10:00 a.m. in the sanctuary, and the Sunday School Grades 3-6 program takes place during the 10:45 a.m. worship service. Friday, December 24 Christmas Eve worship times have changed ! Please note that we now have Holy Communion services at 4:00 p.m., 6:00 p.m., 8:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. Please see the insert in this issue of the Good News for details. Sunday, December 26 On this First Sunday after Christmas, we will celebrate Holy Communion at one worship service at 9:30 a.m. using the liturgy from Lutheran Book of Worship.
We are about to celebrate God’s great generosity in the giving of his Son at Christmas. Every year we can’t help ourselves in giving to others as we remember the generosity of God sending his son Jesus to us on earth. As one of my pastor mentors would say, “generosity encourages generosity.” This is surely the season of generosity. Each of us enjoys giving presents to people we love. Too, we enjoy receiving presents from those who love us. Because God loved us so he gave us his only begotten Son, we just can’t help reaching out to give to others in extravagant generosity. Thanks for your giving to so many aspects of the life and mission of First United. You not only have given generously to World Hunger (over $20,000), but to help our refugee family get established by giving money, food, clothing and your time. You have given to support the seminary, our colleges, our missionaries all over the world. You’ve given to pay for the heat, light, Sunday School materials, and the staff. Thank you. You’ve given to provide for three bronze bells in our bell tower which ring out many times during the day, inviting people to worship. Thank you. You’ve given to many benevolence project and you’ve given to help kids. Thank you. To continue to encourage your generosity, we’ve established a dedicated account to help our members who are or will attend seminary. With tuition and books alone costing over $10,000 a year, our support for them is critical. We’ve added a line item, too, under benevolence to use some of our budget money, if needed, for direct support of members in seminary. However, the most important gift you can make is directly to the dedicated account to help our members called to ministry attend seminary. In the future at least three of our members could be attending seminary at one time. Thanks for your generosity. As God continues to bless you with His generosity, may you find more generous ways to bless others with your giving. Thank you. I look forward to seeing you at worship. Remember, Christmas Eve services are at 4:00 p.m., 6:00 p.m., 8:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. Pastor Karl + + + + + + + We offer our Christian love to the family of Jodi Maslanka at the death of her mother; to the family of Heidi Brown at the death of her grandmother; to the family of Shari Schaefer at the death of her sister; to the family of Mary Amundsen at the death of her father; to the family of Jennifer Roenitz at the death of her grandmother; and to the family of Fred Gould at the death of his mother. Looking for the Perfect Gift? Are you tired of the hectic rush to buy Christmas gifts that family and friends don’t really want or need? Wouldn’t you prefer to give a gift that can change a life - or even save one? Help people in need this Christmas by giving a World Hunger gift! Simply pick up an “Alternative Giving Ideas Catalog” on the kiosk, decide on the gift(s) you want to give, and then use the Christmas card enclosures provided to inform those you love of your gift of honor. This year, give a gift that brings life to others! Keeping you in Prayer Do you know that we have a new Prayer Group that meets every Thursday morning from 9:30 - 10:30 a.m. in the Genszler Room to share prayer concerns and pray? Anyone wanting to join is more than welcome to come! We also have a prayer chain that prays for specific prayer requests. Anyone that is in need of prayer is encouraged to either fill out a prayer request card in the Prayer Corner or during worship, with the “prayer chain” section checked. All prayer requests will be strictly confidential! The power of prayer is amazing because it relies on the power of God! Pray often, and receive strength and healing from the prayers of others! Daily Devotional Book Available Are you looking for a good devotional? The Upper Room Disciplines is one of the most popular daily devotional books available. “Disciplines” follows the same revised common lectionary that we use for Sunday worship. It offers daily scripture reading, wonderful reflections from many different Christian authors, as well as prayer and thoughts for the day. The Upper Room Disciplines are $11 each, but are only $9.35 each with an order of ten or more. Sign up on the Kiosk to order. Donuts and Dialogue Donuts and Dialogue will resume in January with a new study on Lutheranism. Using the book, Reclaiming the “L” Word: Renewing the Church from Its Lutheran Core, we will explore what it means to live out the core teachings of the Lutheran faith. The author, Kelly Fryer, poses the central questions: Who are we? What does it mean to be a Lutheran today? And, why does it matter? No advanced preparation is necessary; just come and join in on the conversation! We will meet again on January 2, at 9:40 a.m. in the Genszler Room. Celebrating the grateful gifts of God’s generous people Thank you to all of you who have filled out your 2005 Stewardship Responses. We are most grateful for your generous responses. If you have not returned your response, please do so at your earliest convenience. Also, if you are interested in giving through the electric funds transfer program, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans underwrites the cost of this Simply Giving program. There is a form that needs to be filled out, and we can mail that to you. Please consider increasing your percentage of giving to your God through First United. We can do so much more to help those in our church family, in our community and around the world. We also thank those of you who give securities to First United at the end of the year. Some of you may have questions about the procedure for giving gifts of stock. The easiest procedure for First United is that you go through your stock broker and ask them to notify us of your gift as soon as possible. If you choose to bring the actual certificate to the church office, it is best not to sign the certificate. Before we can accept the certificate at the church office, we need you to sign a special authorization form for the church’s and for your protection. Please see Cindy or Ronna for the form or if you have any questions. Gifts in a Jar Fund-raiser Do you struggle to find the perfect gift? We have the gift idea for you! We are selling gift jars to raise money for youth to attend the South Dakota Mission Trip in 2005. These decorated jars are filled with dry ingredients to make cookies, flavored coffee, and soup. Sales will continue in the gathering area until December 19. The cost of one jar is $8.00, or three jars for $20.00. We also have small flavored coffee jars for $5.00. Thank you for your continued support of our youth! VIL Event On Monday afternoon, December 20, the VILs will gather at church at 2:00 p.m. for a carol-sing accompanied by our Music Director, Wayne Wildman. If you are able to bring some Christmas goodies, please do so. Coffee and hot apple cider will be served. Come and join together as we sing and enjoy one another’s company this holiday season! A soup and bread lunch will be served on Monday, January 17, at noon in fellowship hall. Pastor Truby is once again preparing his famous soups and delicious bread. Please call the church office by Thursday, January 13, so that Pastor Truby has some idea of how much to prepare. Monday Night Books Monday Night Books will re-convene on Monday, January 3, at 6:30 p.m. in the Genszler Room. We will read and discuss C.S. Lewis’ The Screwtape Letters, so get a copy now to read over the holidays! If you need help in locating a copy of the book, please contact Pastor Gail. A sign-up sheet is in the gathering area. Future Monday Night Book dates (order your books early!): * February 7: Why Jesus Died, Gerard Sloyan (available through Amazon.com or augsburgfortress.org) * March: Lent, no session * April 4: The Ladies’ Auxiliary, Tova Mirvis * May 2: Practicing Resurrection, Nora Gallagher Meals on Wheels Are you interested in being a driver for Meals on Wheels? We are looking for drivers who are available to drive one or two Fridays a month, or who could “sub” on a Friday for other drivers. Please sign up on the kiosk or call the church (452-2401). Thank you! Annual Meeting Results The first part of the Annual Meeting of the congregation was held at 9:40 a.m. on Sunday, December 5, 2004. The following persons were elected: Kurt Jacobson, Sue Kieffer, Sara Larson and Sandy Loth to the Congregation Council; Pam Langan and Jane Roberts to the Nominations Committee; Jane Jensen to the Long-Range Planning Committee; Dave Dielentheis and Carol Kolzow and Rolf Simonson to the Foundation Fund Board of Directors. We thank all the members who were willing to serve in positions of leadership at First United. Annual Meeting Part II The second part of the Annual Meeting of our congregation will take place on Sunday, January 30, 2005, at 9:40 a.m. The purpose of this meeting will be to adopt a budget for 2005. Reports from the ministry committees will be available. The Stewardship Committee will present an update. Your attendance as a voting member is most important! Thank You from St. Mark Lutheran Our sincere thanks to everyone from First United Lutheran Church who helped with our Share Your Bounty program. The time and effort put forth by you helped make Thanksgiving better for 171 local families. Thank you again to: Mary Ann Dippold Please forgive us if we missed anyone or misspelled your name! ~The Social Ministry Action Committee of St. Mark Lutheran Church, Sheboygan Please Note: ‡ The church office will be closed on Monday, December 27. ‡ Please bring or mail any contributions for 2004 to the church office on or before Friday, December 31. Running out of Gas That’s right! Our van ministry could use your help. We’re looking for donations to help with the maintenance of the van and for gasoline. Our church van regularly picks up members of our congregation each Sunday morning for the late worship service. It’s also used for youth functions, women’s Circle meetings, transporting our new Burundi family, and many other events. If you wish to give to this fund, please make your check payable to First United and mark it for the “Van Fund.” Thank you! All Committee Night All chairpersons of the various committees of First United are asked to please have their annual reports to Debbie in the church office by Monday, January 10. Monday, January 10, is also the next All Committee Night. We encourage you to come and get involved in the leadership of First United. Meet at 6:15 p.m. in the gathering area for dinner first. After dinner, the various committees will meet. Check it out, please! There is a box under the coatrack just around the corner of the gathering area, and there are many items on the round table in the church office that have not been claimed, including a small jean jacket found in Kiddie Keep. Please take a moment to check these two locations and claim any item that may be yours! New Member Workshops Anyone who is interested in becoming a member of First United is invited to attend the New Member Workshops in January. The workshops will take place in the Genszler Room and are a great way to find out more about the ministries of First United as well as to meet other new members! If you have any questions regarding the workshops, please contact Pastor Gail (452-2401). Sunday, January 16: 9:40-10:30 a.m. Thursday, January 20: 6:30-8:00 p.m. Sunday, January 23: 9:40-10:30 a.m. We will receive new members during the 10:45 a.m. worship service on January 23. Childcare is available during all of the workshops. Caring For Hmong Refugees Many of you may remember that during the month of October we had the opportunity to provide temporary housing for a young Hmong refugee couple, Xeng and Mai Doua. Thankfully, they were able to move back with their sponsoring family when we learned that the Kamana family would be arriving November 4. To help them during this transitional time, they were given coats, sweaters and towels that we had received from a corporate donation, and were also given dishes, cookware, toys, a baby crib, baby blanket, a queen-sized quilt, and other items that were donated by some of our members, and food certificates. Xeng and Mai Doua are also included in our Adopt a Family program. One of our members, who wishes to remain anonymous, has chosen to help this young couple even more, by giving them financial assistance on a monthly basis. We thank God for this individual’s generosity and kindness of heart, and wanted to share this “story” with you so that you know that we have not forgotten this young couple. Like Xeng and Mai Doua, there are many other Hmong refugees that have recently arrived in the Sheboygan area. As we continue to support and help the Kamana family, let us not forget the hundreds of Hmong refugees that also need our help! Please sign up on the kiosk if you can donate a bed and mattress; you will be contacted by Ako Hasegawa, from Lutheran Social Services, as to delivery details. If you have furniture, blankets, or know of any decent, low cost housing that is available, please call the Sheboygan Hmong Association directly (458-0808). Myshoua Vang, from the Hmong Association, has also asked for financial support for an extremely needy Hmong refugee family of ten. Their housing is $600 each month, but they are receiving less than $500 each month in financial assistance. This leaves nothing for food, clothing, and other expenses. If you can help this family, please call Myshoua (458-0808), or Deaconess Deb (452-2401). Thank you! A Christmas Thank You! Thank you to everyone who helped in any way with our Adopt a Family program, the Mitten Tree, the Thrivent Cookie & Bake Sale, and Christmas Treasures. We did very well at our Thrivent Cookie and Bake Sale, and hope to receive $800 from Thrivent that will be donated to the Adopt a Family program. Because of your wonderful generosity this year, we were able to help 83 families with gifts & food certificates through our Adopt a Family program: 389 people (139 adults and 250 children)! This is 79 more people than we helped last year! The Bride’s Room was filled with Christmas Treasures toys and gifts that were given to the Christmas Service Committee, and the many boxes of hats, mittens and socks were given to the Salvation Army for needy children in our area. I am not able to send individual “thank you’s” to everyone, because that would be in the hundreds, and I am sure that I would “miss” some of you, so: Thank you for your generosity of time in baking, shopping, wrapping, sorting and delivering gifts, and for your generosity of financial support and donation of gifts for those in need. Every year I am absolutely amazed at the overwhelming care and concern that each of you share for others through your support of these programs! God continues to bless us, and has used us to bless others - and I thank God for each and every one of you! Blessings and peace be with you as you celebrate Christ’s birth! ~ Deaconess Deb SINGLES The singles from St. Andrew Lutheran Church and First United will gather together for fellowship, conversation and pizza on Sunday, January 9, immediately following the 10:45 a.m. worship service on that day. We will meet in the Genszler Room. If you have always lived alone, are divorced or widowed, please join us, and bring a friend! There will be a free-will offering welcomed to off-set the cost of the pizza. We ask that you please call the church office to let us know if you are coming so that we might know how many pizzas we need. Thank you! Kamana Family Update The Kamana family has been here for about six weeks. Many of our members have been working hard to make their transition to Sheboygan as smooth as possible by taking them to appointments, babysitting, and teaching them about our culture, among many other things. During this time they have touched many of our hearts with their smiles, gratitude and love. As we wait in Advent hope this season to celebrate the birth of Jesus, the Kamana family also waits in hope as they anticipate the birth of their fourth child some time in January! Rebecca and the baby are doing very well. Please keep Rebecca, the baby, Emmanuel, and the entire family in your prayers. Linda Adams is doing a wonderful job coordinating a core group of people who are working together to help the family. Help is still needed, however, especially in the areas of childcare during the day, transportation needs, and helping Emmanuel find employment. Please sign up on the kiosk or call Linda (467-1368) or Deaconess Deb (452-2401) if you would like to get involved. Financial gifts, given to First United, attention: the refugee fund, are also extremely helpful, and will be used to help with food and medical expenses, utilities, and other expenses for the family. Christmas and birthday cards (Emmanuel’s birthday is on Christmas day, and Rebecca’s birthday is January 1 st) would be most welcome. (Please note on the card that you are a member of First United.) Their address is 2312 Ontario Avenue, Sheboygan, 53081. In lieu of individual gifts for the family (perishable or otherwise!), you are invited to make any sized donation to the refugee fund. Combining our resources in this way will allow us to gift the family with a larger item the family needs. Thank you! Great Beginnings: WE CARE Please help support Great Beginnings preschool by en-rolling in the WE CARE Program sponsored by Pick and Save. By simply shopping, you help support Great Beginnings. You need to sign up for a WE CARE card and ask to have Great Beginnings designated as your organization. If you already have a card, just stop by the Customer Service Desk and have Great Beginnings added. We appreciate your support!! The Great Beginnings number is: 292900.
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