THIS WEEK AT A GLANCE:
BIRTHDAYS THIS WEEK:
Week of 12/3: Jean Duquette 12/4; Philip Thelen 12/5; Michael Henry 12/5; Sue Chant 12/6; Darlene Buck 12/6; Jeff Armbrustmacher 12/7; Lynette Weaver 12/8
ANNIVERSARIES THIS WEEK:
Week of 12/3: No anniversaries this week.
FINANCIAL SNAPSHOT:
Budgeted/Regular (including mortgage interest) $6,175
Budgeted/Mortgage Principal $982
Total Weekly Budgeted $7,157
Received/Regular: $4,715.50
Received/Designated Mortgage Principal: $500
Total Weekly Received $5,215.50 Better/Worse: $1,941.50
MEMBERSHIP ACTIVITY: Week of 11/26: Worship – 8:00: 41 10:30: 107; Sunday School – 14; Adult Bible Class – 29; YouTube YTD: 4224
GOOD NEWS KITCHEN MINISTRY: FREE lunches served on 11/28/2023: 216; Year-to-date served: 9,696.
THIS WEEK AT A GLANCE:
Sunday, Dec 3: 8:00 a.m. & 10:30 Communion Service
9:15 Educational Hour
11:30 a.m. (immediately following 10:30 service) Voter Assembly Meeting in the Sanctuary
Monday, Dec 4: Quilting
Tues, Dec 5: Women’s Bible Study – St. Peter Brunch
Wed, Dec 6: 6:30 Choir Practice
Thurs, Dec 7: 10:30 Sparrow Grief Support Coffee Hour
6:30 p.m. Oktoberfest Wrap-up
6:30 Women’s Bible Study
Fri, Dec 8: 5:00 p.m. Mint City Singers – Fanfair for Christmas
UPCOMING EVENTS:
December 10: 8:00 a.m. & 10:30 Service – Divine Donuts
Children’s Christmas Program
December 12: 6:30 Governing Board Meeting
December 13: 6:30 Choir Practice
December 20: 6:00 p.m. Ugly Sweater Service
December 24: 9:00 a.m. Service
3:00 p.m. Christmas Eve Service
5:00 p.m. Candlelight Service
GREETER SCHEDULE: December: 8:00 Sharon & David Zell; 10:30 Wardin Family
USHER SCHEDULE December 3: 8:00 Charles Reed; 10:30 Ryan Rieves December 10: 8:00 Jerry Roberts; 10:30 Joanne Webster
READERS: December 3: 8:00 A. Park; 10:30 Samantha P December 10: 8:00 Leslie Patrick 10:30 Marty K
AV TEAM: December 3: 8:00 Leslie Patrick; 10:30 Wardin Family December 10: Marty K (from the loft)
ALTAR GUILD: December: Cindi and Shirley
DIVINE DONUT CREW: December 10: Lynn Webster; Lou Ann Roberts
SHOUT-OUT: A HUGE shout-out/thank you to Toni Zimmerman for keeping our bulletin board decorated. The current one is especially striking! If you haven’t seen it yet, please take a moment to see it, located between the Luke Room and kitchen. Thank you, Toni, for sharing your creativity with us.
BLUE CHRISTMAS-A SERVICE OF HEALING & HOPE: Martin Luther Chapel, 444 Abbot Rd, East Lansing is hosting this service of healing and hope for people who are grieving, hurting, unemployed, ill, stressed, lonely, or experiencing any circumstance that makes the holidays difficult. Everyone is welcome. Wednesday, December 13, 7:00p.m.
BLESSING FAMILIES FOR CHRISTMAS: We as a church family, will be adopting a couple of families with children with special needs for Christmas. The “Wish List” is attached at the end of the newsletter. Items can be dropped off or shipped to the office.
MITTEN TREE: Our mitten tree is up! Let’s fill the tree with warm woolies for the little humans in our community. Hats, scarves, and mittens are welcome. Sponsored by the Woman’s Guild.
GUATEMALA MISSION TRIP: Guatemala Mission Trip is a go! If you are at all interested in traveling to Guatemala June 21-28, 2024 please contact Liz Webster. We are looking to fill a team of 11 missionaries by Christmas. Please be in prayer for your role in this mission.
BLANKETS FOR THE HOMELESS: Beacon of Hope, a ministry of St. Johns Baptist Church, is collecting gently used clean blankets and sleeping bags for the homeless. All donations will go to Housing Services of Mid-Michigan’s PATH Team. Donations can be dropped off at Beacon of Hope. Call Beacon office at 989-224-0328 for more information.
Sparrow Grief Support Coffee Hour:Coffee Hour will be held here at St. John’s Lutheran Church on Thursdays from 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. in the Acts room. This grief support group is sponsored by Sparrow Hospice and is open to everyone. Call 517-364-7200 with questions.
Grief Support will be hosting speakers at our upcoming Coffee Hours. On December 7, Rachael Short, Sparrow Hospice Music Therapist will discuss music and healing grief. The following week, December 14, Pauline Baert, will be the guest speaker. She will discuss services available through Capital Area Community Services. All are welcome to attend, no matter what stage of grieving you are in.
CONFIRMATION CLASSES: Confirmation classes resumed November 5, 2023. Contact Samantha Pearl with any questions. 269-275-0072, email: samanthapearlbc@hotmail.com.
b. December 3, 17 (We won’t meet December 31)
c. January 14, 28
d. February 11, 25
e. May 5, 19
f. October 6 – Confirmation Ceremony Preparation
g. October 20 – Confirmation Ceremony Preparation
h. October 27 – Confirmation Ceremony
IT’S RENEWAL TIME: THE LUTHERAN WITNESS is published 11 times a year and provides laypeople with stories and information that complement congregational life, foster personal growth in faith and help interpret the contemporary world from a Lutheran Christian perspective. If you are interested in receiving a copy of The Lutheran Witness, subscriptions are $19.00 a year if you place your order through the church office or use sign-up sheet in Narthex. You may simply drop your check for $19.00, made payable to St. John’s Lutheran Church, in the offering plate, with a notation that it is for The Lutheran Witness. You may also send in or bring a check to the Church office with the same notation. Deadline for placing the order is December 12.
2023 FIVE DAY BIBLE READING PROGRAM: This schedule allows you to read the entire Bible in 2023, while reading just 5 times a week. Old Testament readings are placed as chronologically as possible, with the exception of Job. The New Testament readings space the Gospels out throughout the year.
Week 45 (December 3)
Esther 7-10; Revelation 3
Ezra 7-10; Psalm 97; Revelation 4
Nehemiah 1-3; Revelation 5
Nehemiah 4-6; Psalm 98; Revelation 6
Nehemiah 7-9; Psalm 140; Revelation 7
WOMEN’S TUESDAY MORNING BIBLE STUDY: Tuesdays at 10:00 a.m. Meet in Acts room. Max Lucado “You Are Never Alone” bible study series.
THURSDAY EVENING BIBLE STUDY: New members are always welcome! See Liz Webster with questions. A study of Psalms began on November 2nd. Please join us if you like to Learn, Laugh and Love! At 6:30 pm.
TIFFANY IN TANZANIA: We will post Tiffany’s updates here, so you can continue to lift her up in prayer. You can also follow her at www.lbt.org/smith
October, 2023: Another encouraging moment for me was the amount of women that I saw that day. The first time I visited Tanzania over a year ago, we went to speak to the Taturu around Bukundi, but most of the women were nowhere to be seen. Even when we went to Mwakule and Igunga we saw that, as our car came closer to the houses, the women and children would run inside. We were told by our guide that this is because when they see a Land Cruiser, they assume it is a person from the government coming to talk to them. However, at the house where we had our meeting, the wife of the host was willing to come outside and talk to us and even let me take a picture with her! I don’t feel comfortable taking people’s picture without their permission first, but this mother seemed to enjoy the attention of the camera!
Please keep our team in your prayers as we travel over the next few months to talk to more Taturu community leaders. We want them to be actively engaged with this project and to one day have a Bible in a language they know and love!
Current Vehicle Funding: 60%. I am still hoping to raise all of the funding by November. I have no doubt that God will continue to provide.
CHURCH EXTENSION FUND: Our representative is Matt Nobis. There are materials available in the Narthex. For questions, you can contact him at matthewnobis@gmail.com.
December 2023 Newsletter Article
Learning to acknowledge the abundance of God’s blessings to us is the beginning step of putting together the gift plan within our overall estate plans.
“Did you have a good Christmas?” Beginning December 26th, you will probably hear that expression a lot. Most answer with a litany of the gifts they received, or the parties or gatherings they attended.
Sam was asked that same question by his good friend Daniel. At first, Sam felt awkward, finding it difficult to formulate an answer. But then he remembered something very unique about this Christmas. He and his wife had been working with their LCMS Foundation Gift Planning Counselor to put together an estate plan, that would certainly include inheritance for family but would also include a bold commitment of financial support to their favorite ministry and a missionary halfway around the world. Through regular communication, they had pictures of people who had been baptized and come to faith through that mission activity. They kept all those pictures on their refrigerator. This year, they purposely planned to share their estate plans with their kids. They began by telling them about inheritance. Then they spread out all those pictures from the refrigerator all over the kitchen table where they were sitting, talking about their intended gift for ministry. To their shock and joy, their children didn’t even ask questions about inheritance but asked their parents to tell the stories of these who are now part of Jesus’ Kingdom. “That time of sharing with our kids was the highlight of my Christmas holiday,” Sam said. “Now my kids are asking how they can be part of supporting the same missionary.”
Your LCMS Foundation Gift Planning Counselor will encourage you throughout the process, to bless your family beyond inheritance, by including them in the privilege and joy of financially supporting the Lord’s work, resulting in the salvation of many.
Thought for the Week of December 3, 2023
Learning to acknowledge the abundance of God’s blessings to us is the beginning step of putting together the gift plan within our overall estate plans. If someone asked you for a short description of your life in Jesus, could you do it? Assembling that description into a written form of family blessing or even a statement to be included in your will is a great activity of passing on your faith to family, friends, and fellow church members. Your LCMS Foundation Gift Planning Counselor can help you get started. Contact… Julie Burgess, Gift Planning Counselor Church Extension Fund Julie.burgess@lfnd.org | 713-822-5284