GRACE LUTHERAN CHURCH a Launchpad for God`s Kingdom
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GRACE LUTHERAN CHURCH a Launchpad for God`s Kingdom
GRACE LUTHERAN CHURCH a Launchpad for God’s Kingdom 402.371.1044 [email protected] 416 W Park Ave, Norfolk, NE 68701 www.gracelutherannorfolk.com Rev. Ray Wilke – senior pastor Rev. Chris Asbury – associate pastor Make plans to join us for our Thanksgiving Eve Communion Service on Wednesday, November 26 at 7:00 p.m. Come join us as we give thanks to God for our many blessings. Lyla Fuhrman Appreciation Dinner No one knows – not even Lyla or her family – exactly how long Mrs. Lyla Fuhrman has served Grace Lutheran as one of our church organists. That gives you an idea… it has been a good, long time! Through these decades of service, Lyla has led our singing and bolstered our praises to the LORD of all Creation and Redemption. In order to properly express our thanks to our LORD for Lyla’s faithful service to Grace Congregation, we plan to host a dinner in her honor on November 16th following worship. Pork dinner, baked potato, vegetables, salad, and desert will be provided by Scott Owen and our Family Life Ministry. We hope you take the time to share your thanks with Lyla by joining us for this special meal, sending her gracious cards, and perhaps even offering a gift in the meal offering basket. All proceeds from our Appreciation Dinner will go towards several much needed organ repairs. What a proper way to bless Lyla by adding to God’s continued praises. Come, let us all give thanks! Deadline for articles for the December newsletter is Thursday, November 20. Sour Grapes Our good mother cats teach their young how to hunt. The mother cats take their kittens with them to show them how to hunt. Those kittens become good mousers. The kittens also learn not to take on a squirrel that is almost as big as the cat because it turns into a mortal battle. The mother cats that sit by the milk bowl waiting for us to feed them also raise kittens that sit by the milk bowl. God had expected his people Judah in the south to have learned from their sister Israel in the north what behavior worked and what behavior didn’t work. God had been very clear about the things that pleased Him and those things that did not please Him. He made a list of Israel’s offenses. God’s original observation was given to Moses on Mt. Sinai at the close of the commandments: “I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation, but showing mercy to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.” God’s general observation was that children are likely to follow the modeling of their parents if left to their own devices. This applies to both good behavior and bad. But then God identifies some exceptions. God identifies those who had a good father, but still In 1952 my father and 50 of his salesmen were asked not to come back to the meeting room of the Waldorf Hotel in Norfolk because he brought 2 cases of live chickens into the hotel. He gave 2 chickens to each of his salesmen to carry in the territory when they were selling chicken feed. Those who carried the chickens actually sold more feed. The manager of the Waldorf Hotel said that live animals were not allowed in the hotel. After that he took all of his meeting business over to Ed Prengers Café. Ed didn’t mind the chickens. He liked having the business. I learned a lot of things from watching my dad. Sometimes he did things in an unconventional way, and when that worked, it provided a good lesson for me. And when it didn’t work, that also provided a good lesson for me. Those are the things that I didn’t try because I saw that they turned out badly. Things like driving his Buick sideways across the corn rows. That always resulted in him paying for another alignment job. Animals do that sort of thing all the time; they model behavior so that their young can experience it and then do the same things, or not do the same things. 2 learned to do evil, and those who had an evil father, but still learned how to do good. I went to South Dakota to get hay with a young man a couple of Fridays ago. We talked a lot during the 300 mile trip. I told him about my growing up years and how my father had modeled inventive behavior. And he told me a lot about his growing up years. I asked him how he was able to become a dentist without any help from his parents. He said that he developed produce stands and earned his way through college and dental school by selling produce. I asked him if he learned the produce business from his father. He said, “no,” my father was not particularly industrious. I learned it by myself. I told him that I thought that his behavior was pretty remarkable, seeing that he didn’t learn that kind of behavior from his parents. Throughout God’s journey with His people Israel, God was always very careful to identify good behavior and bad behavior. He even sent the Prophets and Judges to model good behavior for His people. He clearly identified those things that He judged to be good behavior and bad behavior. Then He says that the old observation, that the sins of the fathers will fall to the children, will not happen among His people who do rightly. Ezekiel 18:2 says: “ The fathers eat sour grapes and the children’s teeth are set on edge.” He identifies the behavior that He judges to be good behavior. Ezekiel 18:59 says: “Suppose there is a righteous man who does what is just and right. He does not eat the mountain shrines or look to the idols of the house of Israel. He does not defile his neighbor’s wife... He does not oppress anyone, but returns what he took in pledge for a loan. He does not commit robbery, but gives his food to the hungry and provides clothing for the naked. He does not lend at usury or take excessive interest. He withholds his hand from doing wrong and judges fairly between man and man. He follows my decrees and faithfully keeps my laws. That man is righteous; he will surely live, declares the Sovereign Lord.” The opposite of all these things is what the unrighteous man does. God’s complaint against Judah is that they have watched their sister Israel to the north do all the unrighteous things and suffer terribly for it, but they have not learned. Then God asks Ezekiel to model what will happen to Judah if they continue in their ungodly and inhumane behavior. He tells Ezekiel to pack his bags in the late afternoon, as if going on a long extended journey. Then at twilight to go tunnel through the wall surrounding Jerusalem and go out into the night as if sneaking away from a horrible siege. This was supposed to model for the people of Jerusalem what would happen to them as God sent them into captivity. (But still they did not turn from their evil ways). Many today are wringing their hands over the way our country is going. Many are wringing their hands over the way the church is going. Things that were once considered to be sin are now sanctioned, even by the church. (My wife was on the phone with her sister talking about all the biblical truths now being thrown out by one of the Lutheran Synods). Mixing of genders is OK. Sex outside of marriage is OK. Killing of unborn infants is OK. Doing whatever it takes to get ahead in business is OK. Child and wife abuse is rampant, often going unnoticed and unchecked. Withholding help to the poor and needy is OK. When finally Judah was being carried off to slavery in Babylon, they were saying that God was not being fair or just with them. They had gone so far in their living apart from God’s plan that they no longer recognized their sin. They had stopped calling sin - sin! When I was laid up with gout in my foot, I sometimes watched movies on television to pass the time. I was amazed at how hard it is to find a movie that does not treat sin casually. Any language and any foul behavior is considered to be normal. All the 50 years that Judah was in captivity, some were looking forward to a Messiah who would lead them into a new era of Godliness. They were still a divided people when God gave them permission to come home. Some repented and desired to live rightly, as they waited for Messiah to come. Others returned to their old ways. That’s when the Lord announced that he would judge each one, according to his trust in God’s promises and according to his own conduct. This is what God said in Ezekiel 18:30-32: “Therefore, O House of Israel, I will judge you, each one according to his ways, declares the Sovereign Lord, repent! Turn away from all your offenses, then sin will not be your downfall. Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, O House of Israel? For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent and live!” It is no small matter, or one to be taken lightly, that every time we gather for worship we confess our sins out loud for all the world to hear. It is good to take that confession personally and then to hear the sweet sound of Jesus as He forgives us everything because He bore all of our offenses to the cross. Repent and live says the Lord. Pastor Wilke Funerals Called to her eternal reward: The Lord has called the soul of Beth Cook to her eternal rest. A Christian funeral was held Friday, October 3. “Blessed are they which die in the Lord.” 4 6 Tuition Assistance Dinner The Tuition Assistance Dinner will be on Sunday, November 4, immediately following the church service. The menu includes pork roast, au gratin potatoes, vegetable, and dessert. Come join us for some wonderful food and some great fellowship while supporting Christ Lutheran and Lutheran High Northeast. Youth Mission Trip Fundraiser Grace youth are selling water softener salt to help offset the cost of the Navajo Reservation missionary trip. Our first delivery will be Sunday, December 7, 2014. Please help us by purchasing your water softener salt from us. For $5 per bag you can get coarse (blue bag) or pellet (yellow bag) delivered to your home! You will be able to order salt any Sunday at a table we will have set up in the new addition by the new Mother’s Room. Order your salt and help us get back to New Mexico to spread the news of God’s love through His Son, Jesus. Baptisms Baptized during the service on Saturday, October 4 was Hudson Alan Scott, son of Nick and Kelsey Scott. May the Lord keep Hudson in his baptismal grace. Baptized during the service on Saturday, October 18 was Lillyanna Mae Mrsny, daughter of Josh Mrsny and Leslie Workman. May the Lord bless and keep Lillyanna in His care. Baptized during the service on Sunday, October 19 was Chantz Ames, Deztinee Ames, Jazee Ames, and Jazper Ames, children of Kevin and Jenny Ames. May God’s blessings be with them. It’s Time To Prepare!! Graceland Sunday School will be starting our preparations for this years Christmas Eve Service. We will be learning parts and songs during the Sunday School hour throughout November and December. Watch next month’s newsletter for dates and times of the group rehearsals. “Faith is to believe what we do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what we believe.” —St. Augustine gives us long or short lives, we are accountable to God for every act. So why did Paul feel that he must live to please Christ? What was the driving power of his life or what is it in our lives? Paul knew of Christ’s love for him and the understanding of that love compelled Paul to carry out his ministry. As John writes, “We love, because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19). Our love springs from the foundation of the divine love. Paul was driven by the understanding of the love of Jesus for Him. May God strengthen our faith that we, too, might begin to comprehend God’s great love for us shown in His Son and be likewise compelled to make every effort to please Him. Pleasing God In the Apostle Paul’s second letter to the church in Corinth, Paul laid out a statement that helps us understand the meaning of the Christian Life. Paul wrote, “So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please [the Lord]” (2 Corinthians 5:9). This was the aim of Paul’s life. His whole purpose in life was to live so that he would be pleasing to Christ. In view of God’s mercy and grace to us, we live to honor Him and serve others in His name. In the next verse, he extends this idea to include the scene of the last day when all people stand before the judgment seat of Christ. He wrote, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil” (verse 10). We should have some serious concern when we realize that we are moving on to a judgment in which we must give an account to Christ of the deeds we have done while on earth. Let us make it our aim, whether in the body, or out of the body, to be pleasing to Christ in our day-to-day activities. Whether God Faith Regional Health Services Fundraisers Volunteer Services at Faith Regional is having a Masquerade Jewelry and Accessories sale on Friday, November 21 from 10:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m. All merchandise sells for $5. The sale will take place in the Faith Regional Health Services Nebraska Rooms. Volunteer Services will also be hosting a Books Are Fun! Book Fair on Thursday, December 4 from 8:00a.m.-3:00 p.m. in the Nebraska Rooms. 8 November Birthdays Noah Asbury. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11/1 Rob Jenkins. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11/1 Amy Chamberlin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11/2 Michelle McNare. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11/2 Blakelyn Meyer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11/2 Alexis Baumann.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11/3 Robert Turley. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11/3 Michael Balfany. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11/4 Matthew Dyer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11/4 Trenton Peterson. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11/4 Sherri Aldag. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11/5 Angie Baumann. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11/5 Adriana Faust. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11/5 Dan Brenneman. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11/6 Randy Simpson. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11/6 Erika Ferguson. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11/7 Aracili Latham. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11/7 Terry Riege.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11/7 Katie Walmsley. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11/7 Riley Wilke. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11/7 Chad Wilke. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11/8 Lynette Barg.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11/9 Jasmine Ellenberger. . . . . . . . . . . . . 11/9 Joni McDaniel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11/9 Shirley Sanders. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11/9 Darin Suckstorf. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11/9 Thiry Kern. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11/10 Thom Newcomb.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11/10 Lucille Poske. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11/10 Chance Watson. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11/13 Emma Baumann.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11/14 Jan Froehlich. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11/14 Veronica Phillips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11/14 Ray Wilke II. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11/15 Michael Pittet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Amy Swanson. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Brian Barjenbruch. . . . . . . . . . . . . Rebecca Bonsall.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Beth Gubbels. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Vickie Jenkins. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Craig Drenkow.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Donald Otjen. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jordan Sukup. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . John Gilman.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Judy Price.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Taryn Zastrow. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jennifer Ames. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lance Conroy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cloyde Stoltzman.. . . . . . . . . . . . . Sue Wyant. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Travis Baumann. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ruth Lorenzen. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kelsey Scott. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Becca Asbury. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fred Drenkow. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kevin Sullivan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Missy Coler. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sandy Jacobi. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11/16 11/17 11/19 11/19 11/20 11/20 11/21 11/21 11/21 11/23 11/23 11/23 11/24 11/24 11/24 11/24 11/25 11/25 11/26 11/28 11/28 11/28 11/29 11/30 Lutheran High Northeast News November 2014 “Sunderbucks,” which were to be paid to Mr. Sunderman as he regulated the ads and campaign messages. There was a runoff election at the end of the first week, where the top three candidates would continue on through the second week. The students who won the runoff election were: Jarrett Engelbart, Taylor Friedrich, and Sora Wolff. On Tuesday, September 23, all the students were gathered in the gym after lunch for the annual Student Council President Debate for the surviving candidates. The questions were written by students in Mr. Sunderman’s social studies classes and vetted by a committee of seniors that made up the Sunderman Election Commission (SEC). The candidates continued campaigning throughout the week until the general election was held on Friday, September 26. The winner of the 2014-2015 Student Council President Election was Jarrett Engelbart. He has the opportunity to use his position to lead Student Council meetings, organize events, lead the student body in school spirit activities, develop fundraising ideas for students to be involved in, and take ideas from the students to the administration. Last year’s Student Council President, Alec Wilcox, had many conversations with the administration that ultimately led to a change in cell phone policy at the school. Even though the election is done, Jarrett’s responsibilities and influence are just beginning. It will be exciting to see what things he comes up with and works to accomplish during his last year at Lutheran High! From the desk of: Paul Leckband Principal, Executive Director Andrew E. Keseman of Lutheran High Northeast was honored at the Plum Creek Children’s Literacy Festival Teacher’s Day, with the Nebraska Student Teacher of the Year Award/Future Teacher of the Year Award, a new Language Arts Education Graduate of Concordia University in Seward. The awards were presented by the Nebraska English Languages Arts Council, an affiliate of the National Council of Teachers of English. Andrew will again be recognized by NCTE at the national convention in Washington, DC and next spring at the NCTE/NELAC Honors Day at the Nebraska State Capitol May 1st. The past few weeks have been busy up at Lutheran High. Not only have there been classes and practices, but there’s also been campaigning. That’s right! We just finished the second annual Student Council Presidential election. A few weeks ago, seven seniors announced their candidacy for Student Council President and campaigned vigorously from September 15 through September 26. The campaign began in Mr. Sunderman’s senior government classroom. Students who were not running for office were selected to join the campaign teams of the candidates. They spent time both in and out of class making posters, flyers, banners, buttons, putting cups on the fence, and getting word out about their candidates. Each advertisement cost a certain amount of 10 Development News The latest edition of the Eagle’s Eye Newsletter is out, did you receive one in the mail? If you would like to receive this newsletter with information about what is happening at Lutheran High Northeast, please email or call us with you name and mailing address. You can call us at (402) 379-3040. Everyday is a GREAT day to use SCRIP! With the holiday season fast approaching, SCRIP can help you with your shopping and your gift-giving. SCRIP is available each day at Echo Lighting on Omaha Ave. in Norfolk and at LHNE. SCRIP is also available at all LHNE home Basketball games. Chapel Schedule Walking in the Truth 3 John 4 Nov 5 Rev. Nelson-Mt Olive LutheranNorfolk Nov 12 Rev. Goodman-St Paul LutheranWinside Nov 19 Mr. Preston Sunderman-LHNE Faculty Nov 25 Rev. Weander-Our Savior-Norfolk Note: Tuesday Chapel is held @ 10:05 am, all are welcome to join us. Activities Update Fall activities are either coming toward the ends of their seasons or in the case of drama and mock trial, just gearing up for their first competitions. The Cross Country teams finished their seasons at Skyview Lake in Norfolk on Thursday October 16th. The boys for the first time in a long time had enough boys to score as a team and finished the year with a couple of runner-up finishes at two invites. Drama, under the direction of Brittany Means, is working hard to get ready for their competitions and performances toward the end of November and beginning of December. Mock Trial, with coaches Preston Sunderman and Jason Doele leading the way, have enough students for three teams to complete. Their first round competitions are November 10th and 11th. They will have an open house scrimmage on Sunday, November 2nd at 7:00 p.m. at LHNE. Spiritual Life sponsored a PIES for PILGER night at the Oct. 21st volleyball games vs. Columbus Lakeview. Over $600 was raised to support St. Johns in their many needs. The student body was able to hear first hand from Pastor Makelin at an October chapel. It was a powerful message for all who were able to hear his message. Student Council has been sponsoring dress down days and has also raised over $600 to support pediatric cancer awareness. Funds were given to Team Jack, Sammy’s Superheroes, Alex’s Lemonade Stand and Jessie Rees Foundation. Seniors were involved with both County Government Day and helping the local public library process thousands of books. The library director contacted the school administration and was blown away by how hard the students worked and how much they got done. Kudos to the seniors. The dance team, besides performing at halftime of home football games, will be taking their show on the road to the highly competitive UNO dance competition on November 9th. Their coach is Sara Ames. Grace Lutheran Church 416 W . Park Ave. Norfolk, NE 68701-5240 Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Norfolk, NE Permit No. 8 CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED Grace Lutheran Church Officers for 2014 President Vice President Secretary Treasurer Finance Secretary Phil Zastrow Greg Rathke Glenn Spreeman Kristen Rosner Melodee Drenkow Elders Brad Dinkel David Drevecky Bob Hering Bryan Markes Jim Schaefer Justin Shaver Glenn Spreeman Maynard Thompson Mike W iederin Trustees Craig Drenkow Shawn Fuhrman Rob Jenkins Rob Mercer Paul Rosner Board of Education Linda Baumann Brian Boning Phil Carlson Melissa Dinkel Barb Schaefer Fam ily Life Board Sherry Dinkel Tim Ferguson Lois Leckband Lee Obermeyer Kayla Shaver Karri W iederin Alyson W ilke Sue W yant Christy Owen Mark Peterson Tori Sullivan Lynn W almsley November 2014 Vol. 37, No. 11 Grace Lutheran Church 416 W. Park Ave. Norfolk, NE 68701-5240 (402) 371-1044 email address: [email protected] Website address: gracelutherannorfolk.com Pastor Rev. Ray S. Wilke 84607 Hadar Rd. Norfolk, NE 68701-1009 (402) 371-3076 Associate Pastor Rev. Chris Asbury 2800 Rolling Hills Drive Norfolk, NE 68701-5240 (402) 371-3521