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Bethlehem Evangelical Lutheran Church (BLC), AFLC
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The Bethlehem Star September/October
2007 Newsletter Bethlehem Lutheran Church is affiliated with the Association of Free Lutheran Churches Office--(815)942-1145
Dial-a-Devotion--(815)942-5477
Sunday Morning Service September/October 2007 "But these
are written John 20:31
Funerals Edith Smith June 21 Evergreen Steele Taryn Bandringa June 30 Woodlawn, Joliet Larson Marian Peterson July 12 West Lisbon Lombardo/Steele Gordon Anderson August 7 Saratoga RandyNelson Hazel Mathre August 24 Saratoga Wes Mathre Please remember to pray for those who are homebound, in nursing homes, or in the hospital. At Home: Genevieve
Anderson
Richard
Bradley
Margaret Dell
At Walnut Grove: Ruby Hauge Madelon Peterson Doris Hinderaker At Grundy:
Archie
Anderson
Evelyn
Davidson
Lucille Small At Heritage Manor: Mary Barschdorf At Pleasant View: Florence Olson In W. Lafayette, IN: Marion Linnemann In Aurora: Pastor Wigtil In Elgin, OK: Phyllis Wiekert In Chicago: Heather Lombardo
From the Trustees
Needed to meet budget 34 weeks $12,410 Total Offering 34 weeks $11,348 Needed weekly to meet budget $365 Weekly offering average $334 GENERAL ACCOUNT (BLC) Needed to meet budget 34 weeks $146,336 Total Income 34 weeks $116,643 Needed weekly to meet budget $4304 Weekly offering average $3431
And we know that
all things work together for good Romans 8:28
From the Pastor’s Desk BEING FOCUSED By the time you read this, most of you will have never met me or my wife, Cheryl. I suspect many of you are already wondering what kind of bird this will be you are getting to serve as your interim pastor. Perhaps you’re thinking, "What can a 72 year-old man offer that will be of any benefit to us?" My answer, of course, is "nothing." However, we have a big God, and He seems to have used some unusual people in the past, and He does the same today. We come to you knowing that in ourselves we are inadequate but our God is not. We trust we will be able to love you through Jesus, encourage you, laugh and cry with you, and become friends with many of you. Our desire is to be faithful to Jesus and glorify Him in our lives in all we do. We are so looking forward to getting to meet you and knowing you for however long a time the Lord has us serve at Bethlehem. We really do desire that you pray for us and we’re doing the same for you. We are aware of some of the difficulties you’ve encountered in the past. God has great expertise in dealing with difficulty in the lives of His people. We need only to go back to Genesis and up to the present to recognize and understand this. However, it’s God’s desire to bring restoration and victory to His people. He is perfectly able to do both. All He asks of us is to pray for, encourage, and love one another, and take our focus off of ourselves and direct it toward Jesus. Really, life is not about us anyway, it’s all about Jesus! Right? "You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock." Isaiah 26:3-4 Looking forward to
knowing you!
Tuesday Morning Ladies Bible Study We plan to start
meeting for Bible study again on September 4th at 9:30 am. Newcomers are
always welcome. For anyone who might not know, we meet downstairs in the
lounge for one hour. Sorry, no coffee nor goodies. Sandy Timmons, leader 815-357-8434 Sunday School News You’re Invited!!!
To the beginning of a journey that leads to eternity. Join us on an
adventure that helps you grow the most important relationship you will ever
have - a relationship with Christ. The adventure begins Sunday, September
9th at 10:15 am in Fellowship Hall. You will learn to overcome fear, serve
others, develop a Christ-like character and pray. Acts 1:8 "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." Have you thought about being a witness to the children at Bethlehem Lutheran Church. We are seeking Spirit-led adults to help introduce, teach, and encourage the young in our congregation in a relationship with Christ. If God is calling you in this ministry please contact Kathy Hoge or Ann Higgins.
Women’s Missionary Federation "Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body, you were called to peace". (Col.4:23) Our congregation has been dealt quite a blow lately and it's hard to say what has done the most damage, the differences in opinion or the exodus to other churches. Both have hurt deeply and there seems to be more than enough finger pointing and blame to go around. Have we lost our focus on being the body of Christ at Bethlehem? Nearly every committee and every organization has been hurt and our W.M.F. is no exception. Right now, our membership is very low and we are not sure how long we will continue to meet. It is not our desire to see our congregation without a women's organization, but without some new members joining us (or some old ones coming back) it will be difficult to hang on very long. We still plan to meet on the third Thursday in September to talk over our business and see if we can recruit some new members. The monthly Bible studies are always a blessing and you can be assured that if you are unable to serve, you are still very welcome. We are holding off on ordering new study books for next year. So far this year, God has blessed us with nearly $2,000 for mission work, donated from the funerals we served. This includes $500 in matching funds from Thrivent for Lutherans. And we sincerely thank Thrivent for those extra funds to aid missions. Any new volunteers for serving funerals would also be appreciated.Under the present circumstances, we canceled having the Women's Fall Rally at our church. It is the kind of undertaking that needs lots of organizing and cooperation, and we didn't know whom we could rely upon to help. Perhaps by April, if it is God's will, we might be encouraged enough to host the Spring Rally, but we will need to be sure of volunteers to share the load before we can offer that. We are still having a drive for filled shoe boxes for "Operation Christmas Child", through Samaritan's Purse. Everyone in the congregation can join in this worthwhile cause. You could start buying little items for a boy or girl. These Christmas-wrapped boxes of school supplies, toys, hard candy, gum or hygiene needs will be delivered to poor children around the world. Watch the bulletin for more details later. Sincere thanks to Betty Findlay for all her hard work and help the past few years. And thanks to Kristy Hunter for agreeing to handle the finances for us. Let's all continue to seek God's mercy and guidance for Bethlehem Lutheran. He has called each of us to "Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ, God forgave you." Eph. 4:32 Sandy Timmons, coordinator, 357-8434 September Birthdays and Anniversaries 1 Ken Torkelson 2 Milton/June Thompson Judith Peterson 4 Debbie Baker Jean Wills Carolyn Steele Bev Mickelson 5 Mary Leach 6 Patricia/Rod Phillips
9 Althea Gaddo 11 Joanne Torkelson Garth Rasmusson Kristi Larson Alan Love 13 Tracy Hexdall 14 LeRoy Baker 15 Sharon Morris Andrew/Starlett Torkelson 16 Jonathan Granstrom Tiffany Larsen 18 Audrey Hexdall John Thompson 19 Hannah Daggett 21 Emma Stump 22 Russell Kukman Soopana Peterson 23 Jeri Siron Dawn Francois 24 Donna Livingston 25 Linda/Roy Granstrom 26 Heather Stanford Shirley Johnson 27 Hannah Hitchcock Erika Cryder 29 Mildred Flatness Brett Jacob Russell 30 Vickie Thompson
October Birthdays and Anniversaries
1 Rachel Jewett Glenn Thorson Hailey West Stacey/Joe Malfatti 2 Jeremy Phillips Dennis/Fran McCluckie 3 Kim Marx 4 Bill Wolf Nick Taylor Rob Marx David Vaksdal 5 Joshua Lunde Marion Linnemann John Johnson 6 Allen Pilch Tim Andersen Kenneth/Starr Wolf 7 Lisa Nash 8 Cary Burns
9 Milo Peterson 10 Genevieve Anderson 12 Sookie Peterson Bob/Cindy West David Bezely 13 Bob Kjellesvik 15 Kayla Harrington Les/Gerry Geisert Bob/Audrey Keech 16 Mason Daggett 17 Gerald Nelson Sarah Larson Vance/Barb Vaksdal 18 Ashley Vaksdal Penny Hexdall Lois Tweedt Kathryn/Doug Walter 19 Alice Anderson
20 Alethia Marx Howard Hoge Sandra Timmons Jim/Holly Skinner 22 Paul Peterson Keith Odom David Taylor Kyle Jacobson Brad/Kristine Jacobson 23 Sue Gipes
24 Dennis McCluckie Katie Sanders Ron/Cindy Helland 25 Jacob Carlson 26 Lisa Akers Elmer/Vivian Walker Shirley Love 27 John Enger Isaac Torkelson 28 Peter Smyk 30 Jacob Bezely
Life Chain When: Sunday, October
7, 2007 All signs are available at 1:30 pm at the northeast corner of Jackson and Division Streets. You may sit or stand wherever you desire. Exception would be Mr. G’s at 601 Division, if it is open for business that day. Please Attend the Life Chain
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