Bulletin Announcements

December 3, 2017

THOUGHTS ON STEWARDSHIP:  1 Corinthians 1:9 –  “God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”  The faithfulness of God is our great comfort. He has made promises to us and He will keep them.  He is kind and loving toward us and will not break faith with us.  This gives us the confidence to step out in faith, to leave fear behind.  So when it comes to following the Lord’s commandments for our daily lives: we know His will is best for us because our God is faithful.

NEED A RIDE? If you are unable to drive to church, we have an option that is available.  Please speak with Pastor who has the details.  Thank you.

OUR SUNDAY SCHOOL meets at 9:15 a.m. in the Choir Room which is located on the 2nd level (the west side).

THE ADULT BIBLE CLASS meets in the basement at 9:15 a.m. As we celebrate the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation we continue studies on that time period.  We are studying “A Man Named Martin”, a video-based study on the reformer Martin Luther.

MIDWEEK ADVENT WORSHIP:  The first of our three Advent Services is this Wednesday, December 6th at 7:00 p.m.  This year’s theme is: “The Word Becomes Flesh”, based on John 1:1-18.  This week’s message is: “You Have My Word!”  Meals are served at 5:30 p.m. in the basement.  The food sign-up is in the narthex and this week’s free-will Offering will go to the Prison Ministry in our district.

“LOVE CAME DOWN”:  Advent Devotion Booklets are available on the table in the narthex.  Pick up your free copy today.

NEXT SUNDAY, December 10th, will be our second Sunday door Offering for our Seminary Student.

POINSETTIAS FOR THE ALTAR:   We have a sign-up sheet on the table in the narthex for poinsettias on the altar for Christmas.  They are $8.00 each and you may sign up until Wednesday, December 20th.  They will be available to be taken home after Epiphany on Sunday, January 7th.  There will be an envelope with the sign-up sheet for your check or cash.  Please make checks payable to Good Shepherd Lutheran Church and list “Poinsettia” on memo line.  If you have any questions, please contact Jackie Kwasny at (309) 662-4995 or Luanne Huth at (309) 829-6897.

CHRISTMAS EVE MORNING:  The Elders at their November meeting made a worship change for Christmas Eve morning.  We will have one Worship Service at 9:00 a.m. with Sunday School and Adult Bible Class from 10:15 – 11:00 a.m.  The Christmas Eve Candlelight Evening Worship will be at 6:00 p.m.

CAN YOU HELP: John and Paula Hardy are planning their annual trip to Ft Wayne, IN.  It will be sometime after the holidays, hopefully mid-January. The Seminary needs clean usable clothes for men, women, and children. They also accept shoes, coats, and kitchen supplies.  Please bring them to church.  There is a closet located in the hall upstairs where items are collected, and packed for our trip.  If you need help finding it just contact John (309) 310-7917.  Thank you!

YOU ARE INVITED:  Join your neighbors at Luther Oaks, 601 Lutz Rd., Bloomington for “Holiday Trivia” this coming Saturday, December 9th from 2-4:00 p.m.  Fun for all ages.  Complimentary snacks and beverages provided.  Any questions, please call Bev Voss at (309) 557-8048.

YOU ARE INVITED:  Take a free quided 20-minute walking tour and experience “The Journey” Mary and Joseph took so many years ago.  This tour features indoor and outdoor scenes with live drama, animals and singing.  “Journeys” begin inside every 10 minutes between 5-7:30 p.m. NEXT SUNDAY, December 10th at Christ Lutheran Church in Normal.  Free cookies and hot chocolate will be available.  Meals are also available for purchase between 4:30 – 7:00 p.m.  For more information please call Christ Lutheran Church (309) 452-5609.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR:  Please mark your calendar for 2018 – Saturday, February 10th.  Wittenberg Lutheran is hosting a Speaker’s Forum with the theme, “Cultural and Governmental Influence On God’s Design For the Family”.  The speakers are Tim Goeglein an LCMS Laymen who worked in the Bush White House and now is employed by “Focus On The Family”; and John Rosemond a family psychologist whose syndicated newspaper column appears in The Pantagraph on Saturdays.

THE LUTHERAN HOUR:  “Prep Time” is the topic for next Sunday.  The sermon text will be from Mark 1:1-3  Preparing for Christmas is quite different than preparing for Christ.  Reverend Dr.Ken Klaus is the speaker.  Hear this Sunday’s message on the Lutheran Hour on WGN (720) at 6:00 a.m.; WJWR (104.7 FM) and WJWR (90.3 FM) both on Sunday at 3:00 p.m.  Also, if you can receive Lincoln, IL radio station WLLM (1370 AM) the program is broadcast two times on Sunday at 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m.  Tune in!  You can also listen to The Lutheran Hour on your personal computer at RealAudio, www.lhm.org.

PRAYER CHAIN:  If you have a prayer request please submit them by email to Mary Anne Kirchner at makirchner@yahoo.com or you may phone a Prayer Request to Mary Anne; her cell phone# is (309) 532-2582.  The Prayer Request box is on the table in the narthex for any written requests.

†  †  †  †  †  †

Stewardship Corner December 2017

Christmas is coming.  It is a joyous time of feasting.  The Church feasts upon the Word of God in sermon, song, and Sacrament.

We hear the proclamation of the message of the angels: “Fear not, for behold, I bring you Good News of great joy that will be for all the people.  For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:10–11).

We mingle our voices with theirs as we sing, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom He is pleased” (Luke 2:14)!

We receive the proclaimed Savior, Christ the Lord, not wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in manger, but wrapped in bread and wine placed into our mouths for the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation.

We feast in great joy indeed because of this great blessing from our Lord and God.

God’s people in ancient Israel also feasted with great joy.  The Lord showered His abundant blessing on His people.  And He commanded them to feast upon it (Deut. 16).  The people were to go to the place appointed, where the Lord would make His name dwell, and give offerings, each man as he was able, according to the blessing of the Lord that He had given them (Deut. 16:10, 15, 17).

And there the Lord would bless them with joy as they feasted upon what the Lord had provided.  They ate of the choice parts of their offerings.  They enjoyed the company of all the people of God as they together heard His promises of blessing, sang of His bountiful goodness, and partook of what He gave.

We feast on the Word who became flesh to dwell among us, not just during Christmas, but throughout all the year.

We feast not just on the salvation He has wrought for us in His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, but we feast also on all the temporal blessings that God gives out of His fatherly divine goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness in us.

We enjoy the rich bounty that God provides, not only in Word and Sacrament, but also in house and home, property and income, family and friends.

Let us then, as did our brothers in the faith from ancient Israel, give as we are able, according to the blessing of the Lord our God that He has given us.

Let us, like them, give generously of the first fruits of our income, which He gives, so that all may know and enjoy the salvation He gives and the joy we have in the Savior born in the city of David, who is Christ the Lord.

Celebrating December 2017

Birthdays

Matthew Culp                  Dec  3

Jacob Piper                     Dec  3

Eli McNeely                     Dec  6

Kaitlin Culp                      Dec  7

Brian Hitch                       Dec  7

Kimberly King                  Dec 10

Jason Williamson            Dec 11

Bill Nelson                       Dec 13

Johana Kirchner              Dec 14

Katie Kleiboeker              Dec 15

Karson Lueck                  Dec 17

Mo Dale                           Dec 19

Matthew Holland             Dec 19

Heidi Doddek                   Dec 20

Devin Kemp-Golden        Dec 24

Tanner Hitch                    Dec 28

Audrie King                      Dec 30

Baptismal Birthdays

Karen Dale                      Dec  1

Theron Noth                    Dec  1

Caleb Evans                    Dec  4

Curt Kessler                    Dec  5

Abby Biddle                     Dec 16

Gordon Schroeder           Dec 18

Jeanette McNeely           Dec 20

Payton Biddle                  Dec 23

Katie Kleiboeker              Dec 23

Jacob Piper                     Dec 23

John Campbell               Dec 25

Maria Kirchner                 Dec 28

Heidi Doddek                   Dec 29

Karson Lueck                  Dec 29

Pastor’s Notes December 2017

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I am always telling all of us not to miss the signs that God sends into our lives.  Recently God sent a sign about what you might ask – the sign project at church.

Through the years we have noticed the cars in the lower lot, the walkers on the Constitution Trail and the many others who traverse the grounds of our church.  Thinking a sign with messages would be a good outreach to Jesus and His grace, we went about accomplishing it.  Through everyone’s help we collected enough money to proceed with the sign.  Part of it will be permanent and the other part will have rotating messages.  This is where the sign of the Lord comes in.

In order to give an example to the board and the sign company the Holy Spirit led me to a message over a year ago.  It was presented to both entities and the sign company when designing the sign used that message.  The providence of the Lord was leading the way because when the sign company set the parameters for the sign they said each line should be 40 characters – this includes the letters, spaces and punctuation.  The original message when it came from the company and was shown in the mock-up of the sign came back with 41 characters on one line and exactly 40 on the other!  Take away the comma from line one and they each had 40 characters, the exact number needed for the sign.

As happened when we built this church, the Lord gave us many signs that we were doing his will and this is what the church should do and the building we should proceed with.  (Ask any long-time member and they can share one or two).  The same thing is happening with our new church sign.  The Lord is letting us know that He will bless this outreach idea.  It is His grace and love and mercy that will be shared with our neighbors in a creative way through our signage.

As the long-time song says, “Sign, sign, everywhere a sign.”  Don’t miss the Lord’s – He will bless as you do.

And as we head into Advent/Christmas here’s another reminder.  “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign.  Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” (Isaiah 7:14)  See you in worship sign-seekers!

In Christ,

Pastor